The Myers Lab
Sequencing, Microscopy, Image Analysis
The Myers lab is best known for the algorithm in BLAST and the paired-end whole-genome shotgun protocol and assembler — accomplishments in traditional sequence-based bioinformatics. Starting in 2002 the group has gradually shifted its focus so that today it focuses almost exclusively on analyzing and extracting information from images obtained by various forms of microscopy, as well as building application customized microscopes.
We believe that such devices and the data they produce will reveal more about the function of the entities encoded in the genome than any other approach and will eventually become a prevailing paradigm of investigation, like sequence-based discovery is today.
At the MPI-CBG we are building our own, next generation light microscopes with superior spatial and temporal resolution, capable of recording long time-series of developing organisms. We also work on segmentation and tracking methods and software for applications such as single cell expression analysis of C. elegans development, the morphogenesis of fly wings, the development of the body plan in zebrafish, the regeneration of a salamander's severed limb, and the development of every neuron in a fly's brain.
