Alysson Muotri is professor of pediatrics and of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He also co-directs the Stem Cell Program at the university’s Moores Cancer Center.

Alysson Muotri
Associate professor
University of California, San Diego
From this contributor
With tweaks, brains in a dish may yield clear clues to autism
‘Mini-brains’ created in a dish may reveal autism’s roots and point to treatments, but they do not yet mirror some critical features of a human brain.

With tweaks, brains in a dish may yield clear clues to autism
Questions for Alysson Muotri: Applying autism tools to Zika
Mini-brains grown from stem cells in culture can reveal the effects of both autism and the Zika virus on early development.

Questions for Alysson Muotri: Applying autism tools to Zika
Explore more from The Transmitter
Null and Noteworthy: Neurons tracking sequences don’t fire in order
Instead, neurons encode the position of sequential items in working memory based on when they fire during ongoing brain wave oscillations—a finding that challenges a long-standing theory.

Null and Noteworthy: Neurons tracking sequences don’t fire in order
Instead, neurons encode the position of sequential items in working memory based on when they fire during ongoing brain wave oscillations—a finding that challenges a long-standing theory.
How to teach this paper: ‘Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia,’ by Liddelow et al. (2017)
Shane Liddelow and his collaborators identified the factors that transform astrocytes from their helpful to harmful form. Their work is a great choice if you want to teach students about glial cell types, cell culture, gene expression or protein measurement.

How to teach this paper: ‘Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia,’ by Liddelow et al. (2017)
Shane Liddelow and his collaborators identified the factors that transform astrocytes from their helpful to harmful form. Their work is a great choice if you want to teach students about glial cell types, cell culture, gene expression or protein measurement.
Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior
Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.

Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior
Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.