Leung Lab Blog

Genetics

1. Zu Y, Tong X, Wang Z, Liu D, Pan R, Li Z, Hu Y, Luo Z, Huang P, Wu Q, Zhu Z, Zhang B, Lin S. TALEN-mediated precise genome modification by homologous recombination in zebrafish. Nat Methods. 2013 Feb 24. doi: 10.1038/nmeth.2374. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23435258.
2. Chang N, Sun C, Gao L, Zhu D, Xu X, Zhu X, Xiong JW, Xi JJ. Genome editing with RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease in Zebrafish embryos. Cell Res. 2013 Apr;23(4):465-72. doi: 10.1038/cr.2013.45. Epub 2013 Mar 26. PubMed PMID: 23528705; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3616424.

Retinal development

1. Chiodini F, Matter-Sadzinski L, Rodrigues T, Skowronska-Krawczyk D, Brodier L, Schaad O, Bauer C, Ballivet M, Matter JM. A Positive Feedback Loop between ATOH7 and a Notch Effector Regulates Cell-Cycle Progression and Neurogenesis in the Retina. Cell Rep. 2013 Mar 28;3(3):796-807. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.01.035. Epub 2013 Feb 21. PubMed PMID: 23434507.

Eye diseases

1. From the Telegraph: Eye drops could treat macular degeneration. Original article in Cell Metabolism: Impaired Cholesterol Efflux in Senescent Macrophages Promotes Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
2. From the Washington Post: First U.S. artificial retina approved; device could restore some sight to blind. FDA’s news release.

Neuroscience

1. Blackiston DJ, Levin M. Ectopic eyes outside the head in Xenopus tadpoles provide sensory data for light-mediated learning. J Exp Biol. 2013 Mar 15;216(Pt 6):1031-40. doi: 10.1242/jeb.074963. PubMed PMID: 23447666.
   • Commentary: Tadpoles See with Extra Eyes
   • Very interesting article. It demonstrates how tadpole can sense light by the innervation from an ectopic eye.