
A new method labels thousands of neurons in a fraction of the time - bemmu
https://spectrumnews.org/news/toolbox/barcode-trick-traces-paths-thousands-neurons-brain/
======
whafro
This is pretty cool. Slicing remains a relatively tough/lossy process, since I
understand it's challenging to maintain the integrity of the tissue through
the slicing and extraction process, especially for something as finicky as
RNA, but the rest of this process dramatically increases the observability PDF
these neuronal processes.

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tf2manu994
Wonder if this has been added to the Human Connectome Project[1] yet.

[1]
[http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org](http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org)

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neom
I hope stuff like this becomes something anyone could have access to, I'm
super curious to learn more about how I think and how my brain works, I'd love
to be able to just go to the mall and get a brain barcode and fmri done, heh.
:)

~~~
cel1ne
In the mean-time you could read this book, which should give you quite a few
pointers in how your brain works and how it affects your behaviour:

[https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Life-Your-
Brain/dp/14447088...](https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Life-Your-
Brain/dp/1444708821/ref=sr_1_1/251-8834378-0982834?ie=UTF8&qid=1475336040&sr=8-1&keywords=the+emotional+life+of+your+brain)

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mentos
Is there any hope for an imaging device to map the brain that isn't so
invasive? Similar to an MRI?

~~~
rflrob
Not really. Due to diffraction, the wavelength you need to resolve an axon
(let alone the much more challenging dendritic projections) is on the order of
a micron, which is near infrared. Unfortunately, our skulls are opaque in this
wavelength. You could possibly do X-rays, but the consensus is that blasting
your head with the amount of ionizing radiation you'd need is a Bad Idea™.

There's possibly some room for a clever super resolution technique, but I
haven't seen anything about it (it's also not my field).

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kanzure
High-throughput mapping of single neuron projections by sequencing of barcoded
RNA [http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/High-
throughput%20mapp...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/High-
throughput%20mapping%20of%20single%20neuron%20projections%20by%20sequencing%20of%20barcoded%20RNA%20-%202016.pdf)

Rosetta brains: A strategy for molecularly-annotated connectomics
[http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/Rosetta%20brains:%20A%...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/Rosetta%20brains:%20A%20strategy%20for%20molecularly-
annotated%20connectomics%20-%20Marblestone%20-%20Church%20-%20Boyden%20-%202014.pdf)

Conneconomics: The economics of large-scale neural connectomics
[http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/Conneconomics:%20The%2...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/Conneconomics:%20The%20economics%20of%20large-
scale%20neural%20connectomics%20-%20Marblestone.pdf)

On optical detection of densely labeled synapses in neuropil and mapping
connectivity with combinatorially multiplexed fluorescent synaptic markers
[http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/On%20optical%20detecti...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/On%20optical%20detection%20of%20densely%20labeled%20synapses%20in%20neuropil%20and%20mapping%20connectivity%20with%20combinatorially%20multiplexed%20fluorescent%20synaptic%20markers%20-%20Mishchenko%20-%202010.pdf)

Rapidly evolving homing CRISPR barcodes
[http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bio/Rapidly%20evolving%20hom...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bio/Rapidly%20evolving%20homing%20CRISPR%20barcodes%20-%20Church%20-%202016.pdf)

Molecular recordings by directed CRISPR spacer acquisition
[http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bio/Molecular%20recordings%2...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bio/Molecular%20recordings%20by%20directed%20CRISPR%20spacer%20acquisition%20-%20Church%20-%202016.pdf)

Massively parallel whole-organism lineage tracing using CRISPR-Cas9 induced
genetic scars
[http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bio/Massively%20parallel%20w...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bio/Massively%20parallel%20whole-
organism%20lineage%20tracing%20using%20CRISPR-
Cas9%20induced%20genetic%20scars%20-%202016.pdf)

Neuroanatomy goes viral
[http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/Neuroanatomy%20goes%20...](http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/Neuroanatomy%20goes%20viral%20-%202015.pdf)

some FISSEQ stuff -
[http://gnusha.org/logs/html/2016-07-14.log.html](http://gnusha.org/logs/html/2016-07-14.log.html)
[http://gnusha.org/logs/html/2016-07-13.log.html](http://gnusha.org/logs/html/2016-07-13.log.html)
[http://gnusha.org/logs/html/2016-08-19.log.html](http://gnusha.org/logs/html/2016-08-19.log.html)

(.ots timestamps available..)

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alexpetralia
"One weird barcode trick.."

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Terretta
This is the first research where my first reaction was "Noooo, don't do that!"
I don't want my axons glowing green.

Maybe I'm not bio punk enough, but playing with mouse brain viruses needs to
be done carefully.

// Second reaction was awesome tech.

~~~
Terretta
Heh, so far HN leans that research in viruses targeting brain cells doesn't
need to be done carefully.

I think the long term implications of such tech are more interesting than this
research itself.

