Gerald Rubin pursues anatomy-driven science to reveal principles of how the brain gathers, stores, and processes information. Rubin and his team develop advanced tools and methods to find, map, and analyze the neuronal circuits underlying learning and memory, sleep regulation, visual perception, and female-female aggression in Drosophila. The team, with other Janelia researchers, is contributing to efforts to define a precise wiring diagram – or connectome – of the fly nervous system and to produce a set of genetic reagents for manipulating individual neuronal cell types. Making resources available to other scientists is also a primary objective of the Rubin Lab.
Janelia and Google scientists have constructed the most complete map of the fly brain ever created, pinpointing millions of connections between 25,000 neurons. Now, a wiring diagram of the entire brain is within reach. Janelia scientists have used a powerful microscopy technique to discover new connections in the memory and learning center of the Drosophila brain. HHMI is conducting an international search for creative scientists from a variety of disciplines who will work together at Janelia Farm to develop the next generation of tools to drive biological discovery. Researchers unveil the complete genetic sequence of one of the workhorses of modern biology.