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Pranav Seth

@thebuddhabird93.bsky.social

340 followers 480 following 54 posts

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Baden Lab, University of Sussex — badenlab.org Exploring vision, birds, and viral tools 🐦🦠👁 Ph.D. in Neuroscience, University of Oldenburg 🇩🇪 — #Magnetoreception #Birds #Retina #VisionScience #Neuroscience #2PhotonImaging #AAV

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

How do birds see the world — and how can we study it at the cellular level? 🐦
Six months ago, our paper came out in Frontiers in Physiology with a new tool to answer exactly that. Here’s a little thread...🧵

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Reposted by Pranav Seth

BWJones @bwjones.bsky.social · 12d

Day 2 #Visionarium2025

@teuler.bsky.social talks about What is a cell type?

Thomas Euler speaking in front of a projected image.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 14d

Presented my poster “AAV-based Strategy for 2P Imaging in the Avian Retina” at #ERM2025 in Pécs 🇭🇺. I am grateful for inspiring discussions on retinal circuitry, photoreceptors, regeneration & artificial vision, and for connecting with colleagues in #RetinaResearch & #Neuroscience.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

✨🔬 #FluorescenceFriday
Confocal stack of chicken retina 🐥 — from inner nerve fibers up to photoreceptors.
Layer upon layer of mosaics, each cell type in its place.
Birds have remarkable visual systems, and under the microscope, they look absolutely stunning in detail.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

#FluorescenceFriday #AAV #retina #Therapeutics #vision

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

For me, this is just the beginning.
From my PhD on cryptochromes & magnetoreception → to my postdoc focus on viral vectors & retinal physiology, this journey is about building the tools to ask new questions.
Grateful to my collaborators & mentors 🙏
Full text here: doi.org/10.3389/fphy...

Frontiers | AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina

IntroductionGenetic manipulation of murine retinal tissue through ocular administration of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) has become a standard technique to...

doi.org

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

In just 6 months, the paper has:
Reached ~2,250 readers worldwide
Been downloaded 446 times (Top 15% of Frontiers papers)
Already cited in new work
Found interest across multiple countries & communities

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

With this approach, we achieved up to 60% retinal coverage, lighting up rods, cones (UV, blue, green, red), and double cones.
Here’s what that looks like 👇

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

Our study introduced a custom intraocular injection setup and showed that Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) can reliably transduce bird photoreceptors.
This is the first robust viral-vector pipeline for the avian retina.

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

Birds don’t just see like us, they comprehend soo much more.
✨ Ultraviolet cones
✨ Double cones for motion & brightness
✨ Specialized retinal circuits that guide movement and migration
But until recently, scientists had no genetic tools to study these cells in action.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 19d

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 26d

Read up this brilliant paper by @gkafetzis.bsky.social on how retina evolution is so conserved.. or is it? 🤓

Georgios Kafetzis @gkafetzis.bsky.social · 26d

👁️The retina — strikingly conserved across vertebrates, but an oddity among bilaterians!

So how did it evolve?

With @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social, we argue that retinal complexity may 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n

a black and white dog is sitting on a couch with its tongue sticking out .

ALT: a black and white dog is sitting on a couch with its tongue sticking out .

media.tenor.com

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · 26d

#FluorescenceFriday
#Seahorse retina stained with #GNB3 (green) + #DAPI (cyan). GNB3 labels cone photoreceptors + ON #bipolarcells, tracing pathways from outer to inner retina. Amazing to see conserved visual #circuits in this non-traditional model

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Sep 4

#FluorescenceFriday
The #seahorse #retina shows off its beauty — stunning stratification in the inner nuclear and inner #plexiform layers, with rod #bipolar terminals forming a brilliant band.

#Vertebrate retinas: the same basic plan, yet each species adds its own twist. Its so fascinating.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Aug 29

Seahorse retina in full color!
This is a whole-mount of the seahorse #retina, labeled with Calretinin, Calbindin, and PKCα revealing its intricate architecture. Each marker highlights different neural circuits, showing how these remarkable creatures process the world around them.
#FluorescenceFriday

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jul 25

#FluorescenceFriday
Throwback to my #PhD: EGFP-labeled photoreceptors in a #Europeanrobin retina after AAV2/9 delivery
Rods, cones, even a tiny horizontal cell.
Lots of trial and error—but we got there.
First of its kind in #songbirds.

📄 doi.org/10.3389/fphy...

Still proud of it.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jul 14

#MicroscopyMonday
AAV injections in chick retina: #photoreceptors transduced as expected—plus widespread #Müllerglia labeling across layers!
Shows AAV’s promise for multi-cell targeting in vision repair.
📄 doi.org/10.3389/fphy...
#AAV #Retina #GeneTherapy

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jul 11

Thanks a lot.

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jul 10

✨ #FluorescenceFriday update (coming early—conference-bound!)✨
Here’s a look at the stunning stratification of Photoreceptors in the chicken retina, captured using immunostaining and AAV-mediated gene delivery.
🟢 GFP, 🔴 PSD95, 🔵 DAPI
It’s gratifying to see the biology light up like this—literally.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jul 4

Orthogonal slice of a confocal Z-stack from a whole-mounted #avian #retina, highlighting the laminar relationship between the nerve fiber layer ( #NFL ) and underlying #RGCs.
Imaged with Leica #SP8, processed in Fiji.

#FluorescenceFriday #BirdRetina #Neuroscience #ConfocalImaging

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jun 23

Here is a cool post for #MicroscopyMonday.
Here's a 3D visualization from my recent project using #SP8 confocal #microscopy.
Red = DAPI nuclear staining
Green = Photoreceptor transduction via AAV serotypes with reporter/ #biosensor genes
This image shows successful targeting of photoreceptors.

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jun 20

Another beautiful one:

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · Jun 20

#FluorescenceFriday 🐥:3D projection of #GluSnFR expression in #chick #retina following #AAV transduction. Expression is concentrated in the #photoreceptor layer.
🟢 GluSnFR (glutamate sensor)
🔴 DAPI-stained nuclei
#Imaging #AAV #Retina #Biosensor #neuron #vision
(doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2025.1549585)

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Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · May 23

Yes, i can (More or less). Using immunos and some EM references form a colleague.

Pranav Seth @thebuddhabird93.bsky.social · May 23

The beautiful single cone #Photoreceptor types in the #retina of #chicken expressing #GFP via my #Intravitreal AAV injections.
For more insight, check out my recent publication (www.frontiersin.org/journals/phy...)
Great images for #FluorescenceFriday.
#birds #AAVs #injections #transduction

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