个人简介

Ph.D. Biophysics, Harvard University B.A. Physics, Princeton University

研究领域

Microbiology Neurobiology Quantitative Biology Systems Biology

Sensing and responding to changes in the environment is a hallmark of living systems, and a major challenge of systems biology is to understand the biological networks that connect sensory information to behavioral responses. We are interested in how biochemical and neuronal networks encode and process sensory information to produce adaptive locomotory behavior, and how this behavior benefits the organism in their natural environment. We study the sensory behavior of two model organisms, E. coli and C. elegans. These organisms can sense the world as we do. They use their sense of smell to find their way to food (chemotaxis) or use temperature measurements to move to cooler areas when things get too hot (thermotaxis). We study E. coli because it is a model of how biochemical networks process sensory information in single cells. Discovering how bacteria measure and process this information will likely reveal some design principles of networks in all cells. C. elegans is a nematode that gets through life with a surprisingly small number of neurons (~ 300), and so it is an excellent model of how small neuronal networks process sensory information. Its compact neuronal network may allow us to understand complete sensory pathways from sensory neuron to motor output. Using the worm system, we hope to understand the processing of “complex” stimuli like thermal pain. Our work is interdisciplinary. We use a combination of techniques that span the areas of genetics, physiology, photonics, and biological physics. We also work hard to develop new instrumentation and computational tools.

近期论文

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Mechanistic analysis of the search behaviour of Caenorhabditis elegans.Salvador LC, Bartumeus F, Levin SA, Ryu WS.J R Soc Interface 2014 Mar;11(92):20131092 pubmed Behavioral response of Caenorhabditis elegans to localized thermal stimuli.Mohammadi A, Byrne Rodgers J, Kotera I, Ryu WS.BMC Neurosci 2013;14(1):66 pubmed Viscoelastic properties of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a self-similar, shear-thinning worm.Backholm M, Ryu WS, Dalnoki-Veress K.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2013 Mar;110(12):4528-33 pubmed Temperature-dependent behaviours are genetically variable in the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae.Stegeman GW, de Mesquita MB, Ryu WS, Cutter AD.J. Exp. Biol. 2013 Mar;216(Pt 5):850-8 pubmed C. elegans tracking and behavioral measurement.Likitlersuang J, Stephens G, Palanski K, Ryu WS.J Vis Exp 2012;(69):e4094 pubmed Multiparameter behavioral profiling reveals distinct thermal response regimes in Caenorhabditis elegans.Ghosh R, Mohammadi A, Kruglyak L, Ryu WS.BMC Biol. 2012;10:85 pubmed An imbalancing act: gap junctions reduce the backward motor circuit activity to bias C. elegans for forward locomotion.Kawano T, Po MD, Gao S, Leung G, Ryu WS, Zhen M.Neuron 2011 Nov;72(4):572-86 pubmed Emergence of long timescales and stereotyped behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans.Stephens GJ, Bueno de Mesquita M, Ryu WS, Bialek W.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2011 May;108(18):7286-9 pubmed Thermal robustness of signaling in bacterial chemotaxis.Oleksiuk O, Jakovljevic V, Vladimirov N, Carvalho R, Paster E, Ryu WS, Meir Y, Wingreen NS, Kollmann M, Sourjik V.Cell 2011 Apr;145(2):312-21 pubmed From modes to movement in the behavior of Caenorhabditis elegans.Stephens GJ, Johnson-Kerner B, Bialek W, Ryu WS.PLoS ONE 2010;5(11):e13914 pubmed Particle size dependence of the dynamic photophysical properties of NaYF4:Yb, Er nanocrystals.Lim SF, Ryu WS, Austin RH.Opt Express 2010 Feb;18(3):2309-16 pubmed