News

Our recent paper was highlighted in Science in the Editor’s choice “This week in other journals” section

The staircase pattern of the hair bundle, with stereocilia of graded heights across rows, is a universal feature of hair cells essential for sensory function. We uncover evidence that suggests this unique architecture could be specified by a protein complex guiding planar polarization of the hair cell before the hair bundle emerges. Article

The Mouse as an Instrument for Ear Research VII

The Tarchini Lab participates in the organization of the seventh “Mouse as an Instrument for Ear Research” workshop that will take place at the Jackson Laboratory from September 18th to September 23rd, 2016. Click here for more information and a link to register online.

Nick Devanney has joined the Tarchini lab as a Research Assistant. Nick graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a B.S. degree in the honors program for Biochemistry, Molecular, and Cellular Biology. Nick plans to spend a couple of years with the Tarchini lab in order to gain research experience before continuing on to graduate school. He currently plans to pursue a PhD.
 

Outside of the lab, Nick is an avid hiker and snowboarder who loves to explore and go on adventures. Nick is also a musician and enjoys playing guitar and producing electronic music on his computer.

Our work inspired a crafty model of a hair cell that was picked up by Science magazine to be displayed on their news website. In this knitted representation of the cell sensing sound in the inner ear, the “hair cell”, there is a small cord for the kinocilium and knitted fringe for the V-shaped brush that gives the hair cell its name.  The smooth yarn above the brush represents the “bare zone” as described in Tarchini et al. Conversely, as the area below the brush is covered with microvilli, a more fuzzy novelty yarn was used.