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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 28

We have been answering redditors questions today on the #BANC fly connectome in a public AMA if anyone wants to take a look: www.reddit.com/r/askscience...

From the askscience community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the askscience community

www.reddit.com

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Erika Dona @erikadona.bsky.social · Aug 21

We integrated our atlas with the connectome using shared features, such as lineage, segment, molecular info (i.e. neurotransmitter, Notch) and neurogenesis timing. We mapped 122 transcriptional pools, each one containing an average of 26 anatomically defined neuron types. 4/8

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sebastiancachero.bsky.social @sebastiancachero.bsky.social · Aug 21

With this atlas in place, we mapped sex differences in the atlas and adult connectomes, identifying female-specific apoptosis and transcriptional divergence as drivers of sexually dimorphic development. 7/8

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Erika Dona @erikadona.bsky.social · Aug 21

Thanks to all authors and support from #MRC_LMB, @neurohub-cnr.bsky.social , @camzoology.bsky.social , #flyconnectome, @wellcometrust.bsky.social , ‪@erc.europa.eu‬, @astra-zeneca.bsky.social and @cruk-ci.bsky.social. FIN

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Greg Jefferis @jefferis.bsky.social · Aug 21

Neuronal diversity is written in transcriptional codes 🧬. But what is the logic of these codes that define cell types and wiring patterns?
To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠
#preprint thread ⬇️1/8

ALT text: A UMAP representation of a single cell RNAseq dataset from the Drosophila ventral nerve cord as well as images of the Drosophila nerve cord connectome and different stages of fly development.

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Ben de Bivort @debivort.bsky.social · Aug 20

Fly labs — Now is the time to show some solidarity and chip in support for this vital resource!

clip art of Drosophila flies at different life stages

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 17

The #BANC connectome sample was the best dissection of ~150 by @mindyisminsu.bsky.social! Behaviourally characterised by @debivort.bsky.social lab, microCT used to assess integrity before continuing. Then Minsu and @jasper-tms.bsky.social imaged over ~7 months

Details: github.com/jasper-tms/t...

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Minsu Kim @mindyisminsu.bsky.social · Aug 5

It’s surreal to think that every neuron and synapse in the fly brain + cord that was dissected almost five years ago (the photo’s still on the lab slack!) is now just a click away on Codex codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc. This wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible team behind it!

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 8

The fly #BANC connectome benefits from specialists’ annotations.

@ellenlesser.bsky.social‬ helped us annotate wing sensory neurons and ‪@tony-azevedo.bsky.social‬ wing + other motor neurons, see them here!: ng.banc.community/2025a/wing-n...

In Codex: codex.flywire.ai/app/search?f...

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 7

Explore neurons that enter/exit the fly central nervous system by body part with this clickable fly!: codex.flywire.ai/app/body_par...

(graphics: @mottcallie.bsky.social‬, tool: Arie Matisliah)

Vector graphics! github.com/wilson-lab/s...

Effector cells in 3D! ng.banc.community/2025a/effere...

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 6

For the BANC, ‪@jasper-tms.bsky.social‬ and I have added layers for neurons in other datasets to our neuroglancer environment. Search by name and see your favourite neurons in the same space! See an example here: ng.banc.community/2025a/DNa01-...

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 6

Ah! Wei has already done a great job of this, credits at the end of this thread: bsky.app/profile/darb...

Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · Aug 3

How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.

Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪#Neuroskyence

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Reposted by Alexander Shakeel Bates

Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · Aug 3

How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.

Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪#Neuroskyence

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Reposted by Alexander Shakeel Bates

ellenlesser.bsky.social @ellenlesser.bsky.social · Jun 3

So happy to share this project detailing fly wing sensory neurons! I started this project just by asking what the axons of the wing chordotonal organ looked like, and I found many other cool structures along the way.

John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · Jun 3

new preprint, led by @ellenlesser.bsky.social, on proprioceptive sensing of the Drosophila wing. tldr, there are a lot of proprioceptors out in the wing and they are wildly diverse and complex (eg, compared to the fly leg). just one example in this image...(1/4)

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Sophia Renauld @sophia-renauld.bsky.social · Aug 4

What a joy to work on such an incredibly collaborative project!! Congrats to all who poured time energy and effort into this new resource.

(So excited about this that I had to make a bluesky account!)

Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 2

Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)

We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Reposted by Alexander Shakeel Bates

Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · Aug 3

The dataset includes ~160,000 cells, segmented nuclei and mitochondria, synapses and neurotransmitter predictions, and annotations linking the CNS to peripheral sensory, motor, and visceral systems.

Info: banc.community
Data: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Viewer: ng.banc.community/view

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 2

It’s a big project and I’m taking a short holiday now after the preprint! So I’ll make another post later showing all the bits of it, and how we did this as a community !

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 2

Flywire collaborators @princetonneuro.bsky.social‬ were essential in building the connectome, and theory collaborators in interpreting it! @jdrugowitsch.bsky.social‬ Art by ‪@amysterling.bsky.social!

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 2

A massive community effort, centred on @harvardmed.bsky.social‬
@princetonneuro.bsky.social‬. EM data from @darbly.bsky.social‬ lab, collected by @jasper-tms.bsky.social‬
‪@mindyisminsu.bsky.social‬.

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 2

Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)

We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Reposted by Alexander Shakeel Bates

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 1

Happy Friday! The female adult fly brain-and-nerve-cord (BANC) connectome is now LIVE!

Explore the data here: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Check out the preprint here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

ALT: a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Alexander Shakeel Bates

John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · Aug 1

The first full central nervous system connectome dataset of an adult fly, with the most comprehensive annotation of sensory and motor neurons to date.

A heroic effort with contributions from many groups, a product of the collaborative spirit of the Drosophila neuroscience community.

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 1

Happy Friday! The female adult fly brain-and-nerve-cord (BANC) connectome is now LIVE!

Explore the data here: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Check out the preprint here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

ALT: a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Alexander Shakeel Bates

Diane Adjavon @adjavon.bsky.social · Jan 15

If you want a narrative version of this project, check out our blog post on the newly re-minted Funke Lab website!
funkelab.github.io/blog/2024/qu...

Thanks to @bobqubit.bsky.social, @asbates.bsky.social, and @jefferis.bsky.social, & @janfunkey.bsky.social for this 🦆ing awesome collaboration!

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What's in a QuAC? | Funke Lab

The Funke lab at HHMI Janelia.

funkelab.github.io

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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Nov 21

With so many new in blue, I thought I would repost this thread about our neurotransmitter prediction across the entire fly brain connectome! Should prove a very useful hypothesis generator for the insect neuroscience community.

Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Oct 3

Our fly brain connectome papers are now live (www.nature.com/immersive/d4...), and is getting traction (www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...). With ~139k neurons, >8k cell types, synapses annotated, transmitters predicted, ~134 evo-devo units denoted, so much is now possible in the fly.

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · Oct 3

In a fly's brain, there are some 140,000 neurons that connect via 54.5 million synapses. Researchers have now mapped *all of them*. That story and more of the best in Science and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🧠

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