Investigating the evolutionary conservation of organismal death processes with whole-body and whole-brain imaging in worm and zebrafish
Supervisors
Alexandre Benedetto, Biomedical and Life Sciences, Lancaster University
Kevin Parsons, Glasgow University
Summary
While we know much about cell death, organismal death remains vastly understudied. Yet, understanding death processes would lead to improved surgery outcomes in frail patients, more accurate death declarations, and better donated organ preservation, while shedding light on a phenomenon that has fascinated mankind for centuries. A main reason for this knowledge gap is that studying death it is both ethically and practically challenging. However, the advent of transparent model organisms (C. elegans, D. rerio) expressing tissue-specific calcium biosensors, combined with advanced microscopy and image analysis techniques, now affords tracking of live-tissue activities with single-cell resolution, making the mechanistic study of death possible. Building on pioneering findings in worms and fish that organismal death is a regulated process exhibiting specific patterns of cell activities, this project aims to determine the hierarchy of brain pathways involved and whether they form a death “program” potentially conserved across species.
The student will acquire nematode and zebrafish husbandry, genetics, and advanced imaging techniques, computer science skills for image analysis, and train in integrative physiology and evolutionary neuroscience. They will collaborate with postdoctoral researchers across three institutions (Lancaster University, Glasgow University, HHMI Janelia Farms), drawing from world-leading expertise with access to unique facilities in the UK and the USA, to tackle this complex and exciting subject.