Baier Lab MPI for Biological Intelligence

@leonard_zon Congratulations! Well deserved, Len!

Honored to be selected as this year’s March of Dimes Prize awardee. Grateful for the incredible work my lab has done over the years. I embraced developmental biology when I started my lab and am excited to see its principles translate to patients. marchofdimes.org/about/news/ren….

Joint junior faculty position in Computational Neuroscience, split between Ctr for Computational Neuroscience at @FlatironInst and the CUNY Graduate Center @GC_CUNY. Application deadline: 16 Jan 2026! simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/caree…

See you in Florida in March! @MPFNeuro #Sunposium2026

How do brains make decisions and why does this matter for human health? John Fox and I discuss this here on the latest episode of his "Neuroscience Perspectives" podcast. youtube.com/watch?v=-UeC-D…

Apply by Feb. 3 to become a Janelia Group Leader! Group Leaders drive breakthroughs & experimental approaches in imaging, molecular engineering, protein chemistry, mass spectrometry, & methods that don't yet exist. Learn more: janelia.org/groupleader

Inbal’s and JJ’s 2025 paper on the topographic variation of cell-type function made it into a very exclusive list of highlights of remarkable science published in Nature! nature.com/articles/d4158…

Fascinating @ScienceMagazine article on magnetosensing and its unexpected ties to mechanobiology. A pigeon’s semicircular canal in their ears, long regarded as a fluid-filled labyrinth that acts as a kind of gyroscope for orientation (much like our own) - is receptive to weak electromagnetic fields, activating evolutionary conserved brain circuits for motion and spatial orientation. What other tissues are covertly multiplexing multiple streams of biophysical information to regulate health and behaviour? Link: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

Now online! Retraction notice to: Transcriptome-scale RNA-targeting CRISPR screens reveal essential lncRNAs in human cells dlvr.it/TPdpN6

@AdrianoAguzzi @reviewer3com @Proofig Agreed.

@AdrianoAguzzi A bit late…

@AdrianoAguzzi Apparently, the entire paper, not just this figure, was generated by AI. If true, author should be banned from publishing again.

Behind every great scientist is a mentor who believes in them. IMPRS faculty @sarah_stern shares how curiosity, a supportive environment, and happy trainees are critical to push forward science. Looking for a PhD program that values discovery and people? buff.ly/uzUvhYg

New paper alert! 🔥 By developing engram-specific epigenetic editing tools, our new study provides the first causal evidence that locus-specific epigenetic modifications are necessary and sufficient to drive memory expression. And that irrespective of the memory phase! 🧠🧬

Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence - How a fish knows when to blend in bi.mpg.de/news/2025-11-b…

Excited to launch an openRxiv partnership with the scientist-run AI review service qed science, the brainchild of @OdedRechavi openrxiv.org/enabling-revie… 1/n

Calling aspiring group leaders! We've just opened applications for group leader fellowship sponsorship to start a lab in UCL NPP. Deadline 5 Jan #sciencejobs @uclnpp tinyurl.com/3h33dvev

IT'S HAPPENING! 💥 I'm psyched to launch the collaboration between @qedScience & @openrxiv @biorxivpreprint! Let's go back to concentrating on making discoveries, and not on “getting published”, because it’s not going to matter soon, when feedback & evaluation are detached from the journals. Preprint + q.e.d = your science is out there, and anyone can appreciate it 👇

@shekharlab Thanks, Karthik!

@BaierLab Amazing! Congrats Herwig and team. Another amazing example of cell types to circuits to behavior and neuromodulation!

New paper out! Krasimir Slanchev and colleagues in the lab discovered a population of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) that are driving visual background information (VBA). These ipRGCs project to the preoptic area. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

resulting in aggregation of pigment granules and lightening of the skin. Voilá: Light activates ipRGCs; ipRGCs increase expression of MCHL by neurons in the hypothalamus; MCHL is secreted into the blood and blanches the skin; fish becomes paler and adapts to a bright background.

Here, they form connections with hypothalamic neurons that express the hormone MCHL (melanin concentrating hormone-like). MCHL is secreted by nerve endings in the pituitary gland into the bloodstream and acts on melanophores in the skin,…