Send a text

How can we map the brain’s wiring at molecular resolution, and what are the realistic promises and limits of connectomics?

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, we speak with Dr. Sven Truckenbrodt, group leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, UK), where his lab investigates #brain wiring at the molecular level. With previous research experience at ISTA Austria and E11 Bio, he works at the intersection of #ExpansionMicroscopy, molecular labeling, and scalable circuit reconstruction.

Beyond defining #connectomics, this conversation explores the technical, conceptual, and organizational challenges of mapping #NeuralCircuits at scale.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why synapses operate at the nanometer scale, and why this pushes imaging technology to its limits
• How physical tissue expansion bypasses the diffraction limit of light #microscopy
• Why whole-brain connectomes are rare “hero datasets” and what prevents comparative connectomics
• How combinatorial neuronal barcoding could reduce manual proofreading in circuit reconstruction
• Why new research models like Focused Research Organizations aim to close the gap between #academia and #industry.

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:00 Dr. Sven Truckenbrodt’s research focus

00:02:20 How Small Is a Synapse?

00:05:20 How Can We See Synapses?

00:08:00 What Can Connectomics Realistically Reveal?

00:13:00 Connectomics With Electron Microscopy vs. Light Microscopy

00:16:00 Expansion Microscopy

00:18:48 What Is Neuronal Barcoding?

00:26:00 Are Glia Part of Connectomics?

00:29:15 Does Expansion Microscopy Introduce Artifacts?

00:32:00 What Is E11 Bio and a Focused Research Organization?

00:38:45 From ISTA to Cambridge - Building a Lab

00:44:48 What Are Connectopathies?

00:54:00 Advices to Graduate Students

Read the most recent preprint here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.26.678648v1

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us for exciting neuroscience content. Watch our new episode to explore how connectomics, expansion microscopy, and neuronal barcoding are reshaping our ability to map the brain at molecular resolution.

🔗Link to our social media accounts: https://linktr.ee/neurosciencebeyond

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

Send a text

Why is it becoming harder to build a stable career in science?

Prof. Sauer reflects on structural pressures in academia: competitive #ResearchFunding, short-term contracts, and increasing administrative burdens. He discusses how evaluation metrics and grant systems shape career paths and may discourage long-term, high-risk research.

He highlights the need for sustainable funding structures and realistic career prospects for early-career scientists.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content and honest conversations about academic life.

#academic #challenges #academia #science #ResearchFunding #AcademicCareers #PhDLife

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

Send us a text

How do you see structures inside cells that are smaller than the wavelength of light? Why was the diffraction limit considered an unbreakable barrier for decades, and how did super-resolution microscopy change everything?

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, we explore the frontiers of biological imaging with Prof. Markus Sauer, a pioneer of modern super-resolution microscopy. Prof. Sauer developed direct STORM (dSTORM), a technique that enables visualization of molecular organization at the nanometer scale. He leads the super-resolution microscopy lab at the Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, where his team continues to push the boundaries of cellular imaging.

We discuss how single-molecule localization microscopy works, what are the technical challenges that we had to overcome to see the nanometer molecular world, and how these methods are now central to research in neuroscience, immunology, and translational science. The conversation also explores expansion microscopy, quantitative imaging, and the challenges of interpreting increasingly detailed biological data.

This episode takes a closer look at how improved imaging reshapes our understanding of cells, and why higher resolution often leads to deeper questions.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• Important barriers to brake in order to achieve super-resolution microscopy
• The principles behind dSTORM and single-molecule localization
• What super-resolution reveals about molecular organization in neurons and in the context of immunology
• Expansion microscopy and its impact on modern cell biology

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction & Episode Overview

00:02:10 Markus Sauer’s Path into Microscopy

00:08:40 What Is the Diffraction Limit and Why It Matters

00:12:30 The Idea Behind Super-Resolution Microscopy

00:15:20 How dSTORM Works at the Single-Molecule Level

00:30:00 From Physics to Biology: Applications of Microscopy

00:42:40 Expansion Microscopy

00:47:30 What is Next in Microscopy? What are the limitations?

00:54:00 Current Challenges and Future Directions

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us for exciting neuroscience content.

🔗Link to our social media accounts: https://linktr.ee/neurosciencebeyond

#Neuroscience #SuperResolutionMicroscopy #dSTORM #Microscopy #CellBiology #DiffractionLimit #ExpansionMicroscopy #Neuroimaging #SciencePodcast #Biophysics

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen