Bob Johnston

Muller glia (green) regulate local retinoic acid signalling to specialise photoreceptor outer segments (magenta)for high acuity visual function

Excited to share our new manuscript from the Yoshimatsu and MacDonald labs. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... We found that my favourite glial cells can regulate local retinoic acid signalling to specialise cone photoreceptors for high acuity visual function.

Proud to have been part of this work.

Congrats on a nice paper !! Watch out for our Commentary coming out soon!

How did humans develop sharp vision? Lab-grown retinas show likely answer Organoid technology pioneered at Johns Hopkins could spur new therapies for vision loss

JHU wrote a nice story summarizing our recent studies of human foveola patterning using human retinal organoids.

Come for the science, stay for the super closeup of me looking through a petri dish.

hub.jhu.edu/2026/02/18/r...

A cell fate specification and transition mechanism for human foveolar cone subtype patterning | PNAS In the central region of the human retina, the high-acuity foveola is notable for its dense packing of green (M) and red (L) cones and absence of b...

I'm excited to share our PNAS paper from 1st author Kasia Hussey. We study how the foveola, the high acuity region of the retina, is patterned by RA and TH. We were surprised to find that cone subtypes appear to convert fates. Our studies are important for AMD sufferers. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One

Vision Science makes the front page of NYT!!
featuring work from @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social with comments from Berkeley's own @karthikshekhar.bsky.social
#visionscience

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/s...

From our new paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social: www.cell.com/current-biol... w/ @neurofishh.bsky.social @gkafetzis.bsky.social @denilsson.bsky.social

Looking across animals, the vertebrate eye is an obvious outlier. Why is it so different that other highly visual animals?

New preprint in collab with Capelson & Schindler labs):
Nuclear pore complexes are developmentally removed and rebuilt during oocyte specification. Blocking turnover prevents gene silencing and meiotic entry.
Nuclear architecture renewal is required for cell fate.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🌟 Meet the Scientific Committee: @blockintheback.bsky.social🌟

Kristen Kwan is a member of the Scientific Committee of #EZM2026, and we are thrilled to have her join us in Vienna!

Stay tuned as we continue to introduce the outstanding scientists of EZM2026! 🐟🧬

Pulsatile dynamics propagate crystalline order in the developing Drosophila eye Couturier et al. show that the development of regular rows of light-receiving units in the Drosophila eye is accompanied by pulses of proneural gene expression and Notch signaling activity. Pattern pr...

Very interesting study from the Schweisguth lab - Pulsatile dynamics propagate crystalline order in the developing Drosophila eye: Developmental Cell www.cell.com/developmenta...

Great news!

Department Chair, Duke Neurobiology - Duke University, Durham job with Duke University - School of Medicine | 12852576 The Duke University School of Medicine (SOM) seeks a distinguished neuroscientist to serve as the next Chair of the Department of Neurobiology.

My department, Duke Neurobiology, is searching for a new chair. Ad below. Come work with me, @jmgrohneuro.bsky.social @ennatsew.bsky.social @jorggrandl.bsky.social @jnklab.bsky.social @sbilbo.bsky.social @neurocircuits.bsky.social and many other amazing folks! @dukemedschool.bsky.social

I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well. My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms

Check out this story! Atlantic writer Alexandra Petri visited my lab and played with some fruit flies and human organoids as she wrote about experiencing things that were affected by government cuts.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well. My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms

Here you go! www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well. My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms

Check out this story! Atlantic writer Alexandra Petri visited my lab and played with some fruit flies and human organoids as she wrote about experiencing things that were affected by government cuts.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

How ground squirrels enhanced their retinas - Scientific editing and writing experts - Life Science Editors Scientific editing and writing experts for manuscripts and grants

Nice summary on our paper on mechanisms controlling development and evolution of the cone-dominant ground squirrel retina, which is now in final form at eLife.
www.lifescienceeditors.com/2026/01/06/h...

G+D together with JHU worked to put together this cool video describing our latest work! Check it out!

I'm so excited that @christ3na.bsky.social 's paper describing temporal control of photoreceptor development in human organoids is out at Genes and Dev and we got the cover!

genesdev.cshlp.org/content/40/1...

genesdev.cshlp.org/content/40/1...

Nothing like a paper acceptance right before New Years! The Johnston lab will be sharing some of our best work ever in 2026!

Next update coming on Jan 1!

Conservation of cis-regulatory codes over half a billion years of evolution The regulatory codes controlling vertebrate retinal gene expression have been conserved over more than half a billion years.

🧬👁️ Our Science Advances paper is published! snATAC-seq analysis across lamprey to human retina uncovers deeply conserved cis-regulatory codes in all six retinal cell types — even with extensive enhancer turnover. Immensely grateful to my coauthors and collaborators. 🙏 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Could axolotls hold the key to restoring human vision? Axolotls can regenerate optic nerves, retinas, and parts of their brain. Provost's Undergraduate Research Award-winner Ted Chor wants to understand how.

Recent Hopkins Hub article highlighting our work on optic nerve regeneration in axolotl. Congratulations to Ted!
hub.jhu.edu/2025/12/11/s...

Mosquitoes - Alex Wild Mosquitoes comprise a large family, Culicidae, of slender, scale-covered flies found worldwide. We think of mosquitoes as voracious blood-feeders, but the primary food of adult mosquitoes is actually ...

Mosquitoes, a photo gallery:

Modulating the levels and activity of the retinal determination network is sufficient to induce the specification of distinct tissue fates in Drosophila Summary: Modulation of members of the retinal determination gene regulatory network and their co-factors in Drosophila eyes reveals that differential expression of transcription factors is sufficient ...

Excited to announce that the newest paper from my lab on the Drosophila visual system is out today!

Modulating the levels and activity of the retinal determination network is sufficient to induce the specification of distinct tissue fates in Drosophila url: journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...

Hmx Protein's Effect On Fruit Flies' Photoreceptors and Info On The NFB Performing Arts Division Dr. Jens Rister (University of Massachusetts - Boston) Katelyn MacIntyre (National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division - Baltim...

It was an honor being interviewed about our new color vision project by the 'Eye on Vision' WYPL Memphis radio show! 🪰👀🧪
@umassboston.bsky.social
eyeonvision.blogspot.com/2025/11/hmx-...

Just a heads up: I just got a phishing attempt pretending to be from the #VisualSystemDevelopment #GRC. It looked pretty convincing at first glance, so be careful!

No more paylines at the NIH
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

My department at Dartmouth Medical School is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor. We are looking broadly for a biochemist or cell biologist. Please share this add! apply.interfolio.com/171438
@dartmouthbcb.bsky.social @futurepislack.bsky.social

Now out in Cell! Congratulations to all involved, especially
@chiarafornetto.bsky.social

For a breakdown, see the bluetorial from when we posted the preprint: bsky.app/profile/neur...

Funding: @erc.europa.eu @wellcometrust.bsky.social @ukri.org @leverhulme.ac.uk @thelisterinstitute.bsky.social

Today’s speaker in our DRN external seminar series is Dr Ryan MacDonald @macdonaldlab.bsky.social (University College London)

Sponsored by the Physiological Society
@physoc.bsky.social

Host: Emily Noël
@noelresearchlab.bsky.social

All welcome!

Figure 8 from the paper showing a model of lineage alterations in wild-type versus Chd4 cKO retinas. See the paper for more information.

Chd4 remodels chromatin to control retinal cell type specification and lineage termination

Read this #LifelongDevSI #OA Research Article by Sujay Shah, Pierre Mattar and colleagues

doi.org/10.1242/dev....