SBME Seminar: Writing & rewriting cell histories in DNA: Synthetic neurobiology technologies to identify, manipulate & record gene regulatory elements at scale – Troy McDiarmid

SBME Seminar: Writing & rewriting cell histories in DNA: Synthetic neurobiology technologies to identify, manipulate & record gene regulatory elements at scale – Dr. Troy McDiarmid

Meeting code: 451796
 
 
Location:
DMCBH 101 LT
 
Co-hosted by Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
 
As we develop from a single cell into a thinking organism, the brain first builds and then continuously remodels itself through the dynamic interplay of programmed and experience-dependent gene regulation. These processes, which are central to mechanisms of learning and memory, are disrupted in disorders of neurodevelopment and immunity. Yet, studying gene regulation at scale has been hindered by technical challenges associated with identifying, manipulating, and recording the activities of the vast numbers of cell type-specific gene regulatory elements, in particular enhancers, that orchestrate changes in gene expression throughout the brain. In this seminar, I will describe my ongoing and planned efforts to map, manipulate, and record gene regulatory activity across the brain and over time. This includes the development of single-cell CRISPR screening approaches to identify thousands of DNA sequences regulating gene expression in different cell types and states, as well as massively parallel molecular recording methods that write cellular events into the genome itself, enabling reconstruction of past biological processes. This program will provide validated neural enhancers for basic research and therapeutic development, while also advancing our understanding and tool set for investigating the functional circuitry of neural gene regulation. My long-term vision is to develop molecular recording technologies with the potential to transform the way neuroscientists can study the brain by enabling them to record, reconstruct, and correct the cellular histories that underlie diverse biological processes in development and disease.

 

 
 
Dr. Troy McDiarmid’s Biography:

Troy A. McDiarmid is a Canadian neuroscientist, synthetic biologist, and genome engineer. He completed his PhD at the University of British Columbia, developing CRISPR-based genome engineering methods and conducting machine vision behavioural analyses to study the function of human genes, functional impact of genetic variants, and mechanisms of learning and memory. He then went on to work as a Banting Postdoctoral Scholar with Dr. Jay Shendure at the University of Washington, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology.

Dr. McDiarmid’s research program explores how the brain builds and remodels itself through dynamic gene regulation. He has developed scalable synthetic neurobiology technologies to map, manipulate, and record gene regulatory activity across the brain and over time. His work includes single-cell CRISPR screening to identify DNA sequences regulating gene expression in different cell types and states, and molecular recording methods that write cellular events into the genome itself, enabling reconstruction of past biological processes. His work has implications for our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, as well as understanding and treating disorders of neurodevelopment and the neural immune system.