Asari group
Visual systems neuroscience
The Epigenetics and Neurobiology Unit connects under one roof experts studying the control of gene expression with those examining sensory processing and behavioural control.
The research of all groups focuses on the interdisciplinary investigation of epigenetics and neurobiology. Research at the Unit is supported by a state-of-the-art animal facility, and the provision of a full range of core facilities including gene editing and embryology technologies, genetic and viral engineering, imaging, histology, flow cytometry, and an efficient and user friendly administration. Additional support for our researchers is available through collaborations with data science experts at EMBL-EBI in Hinxton, with structural biologists at EMBL Hamburg and EMBL Grenoble, and a wide range of molecular biologists and technology experts at EMBL Heidelberg and EMBL Barcelona that host a series of complementary core facilities in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and imaging.
The interdisciplinary focus and relatively small size of the Unit foster a special atmosphere that exemplifies the founding principles of EMBL as a dynamic, open and collaborative environment where new scientific ideas are born and shaped.
The common theme explored in numerous projects across the site is how changes in gene expression and brain plasticity enable organisms to adapt to their environment.
Visual systems neuroscience
Mechanisms of embryonic gene regulation
Epigenetic gene silencing in mammals
Neural control of instinctive behaviour
Epigenetic mechanisms and intergenerational inheritance
Understanding the formation of hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells during development
Advanced optical techniques for deep tissue microscopy
Visual circuits in the thalamus
Epigenetics
The 74 research groups at EMBL are organised into nine units spanning six European sites.