The mammalian immune system is a sprawling network of cells, each with unique properties and functions. As discussed in my latest Technology Feature, immunologists have developed a range of technologies to characterize those populations, from mass cytometry to single-cell DNA sequencing. Read more
Wandering the convention center among 30,000-plus researchers, students and vendors at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego last November, I struggled to wrap my head around a feature I was writing for this week’s Nature, on managing big brain data. Mice, molecular biology and cell sorting reigned supreme in my former life as a bench scientist. Neurons, brain imaging, terabytes — not so much. So when it came time to find an entry into the vast universe of the brain, I latched onto something that seemed small and manageable: the fruit fly. Read more
