David A. Markowitz
@davidamarkowitz.bsky.social
Pinned
We're at the threshold of understanding intelligence itself. The convergence of neuroscience and AI has created an unprecedented opportunity — but our research ecosystem isn't built to seize it.
We need a new model that matches the scale of our ambition... 🧵
We need a new model that matches the scale of our ambition... 🧵
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
Our new paper showcasing molecular connectomics with pan-expansion microscopy is out in @natbiotech.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This wonderful collaboration with @bewersdorflab.bsky.social was led by Ons M'Saad (now founder/CEO of Panluminate) and @allisonphysics.bsky.social. (1/5)
This wonderful collaboration with @bewersdorflab.bsky.social was led by Ons M'Saad (now founder/CEO of Panluminate) and @allisonphysics.bsky.social. (1/5)
November 27, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Our new paper showcasing molecular connectomics with pan-expansion microscopy is out in @natbiotech.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This wonderful collaboration with @bewersdorflab.bsky.social was led by Ons M'Saad (now founder/CEO of Panluminate) and @allisonphysics.bsky.social. (1/5)
This wonderful collaboration with @bewersdorflab.bsky.social was led by Ons M'Saad (now founder/CEO of Panluminate) and @allisonphysics.bsky.social. (1/5)
Lots of excitement around open source computational binder design (BoltzGen FTW!), but as far as I can tell it's still ~2x more expensive per target than a traditional campaign with a CRO.
(60k runs/target) x (2 mins/run) x ($5/hr for an A100) = $10k/target
vs ~$5k with a CRO
(60k runs/target) x (2 mins/run) x ($5/hr for an A100) = $10k/target
vs ~$5k with a CRO
November 25, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Lots of excitement around open source computational binder design (BoltzGen FTW!), but as far as I can tell it's still ~2x more expensive per target than a traditional campaign with a CRO.
(60k runs/target) x (2 mins/run) x ($5/hr for an A100) = $10k/target
vs ~$5k with a CRO
(60k runs/target) x (2 mins/run) x ($5/hr for an A100) = $10k/target
vs ~$5k with a CRO
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
I will be co-teaching a summer course at Allen Institute on connectomics education please apply. Travel support, new connectomics data sets and learning directly from the scientists who built these datasets. Details here: alleninstitute.org/events/incor...
Incorporating open connectomics data into teaching neuroscience
Learn to analyze open neuroscience data and introduce dry lab modules into your existing classes at the Incorporating Open Connectomics data into...
alleninstitute.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I will be co-teaching a summer course at Allen Institute on connectomics education please apply. Travel support, new connectomics data sets and learning directly from the scientists who built these datasets. Details here: alleninstitute.org/events/incor...
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
It's increasingly tempting to believe frontier models truly understand concepts and their relationships like humans do. Then I get a figure like this from today's leading model and the illusion is ruined. <sigh>
November 19, 2025 at 3:40 AM
It's increasingly tempting to believe frontier models truly understand concepts and their relationships like humans do. Then I get a figure like this from today's leading model and the illusion is ruined. <sigh>
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
I am super happy to share that our project on training biophysical models with Jaxley is now published in Nature Methods: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Jaxley: differentiable simulation enables large-scale training of detailed biophysical models of neural dynamics - Nature Methods
Jaxley is a versatile platform for biophysical modeling in neuroscience. It allows efficiently simulating large-scale biophysical models on CPUs, GPUs and TPUs. Model parameters can be optimized with ...
www.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I am super happy to share that our project on training biophysical models with Jaxley is now published in Nature Methods: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It's increasingly tempting to believe frontier models truly understand concepts and their relationships like humans do. Then I get a figure like this from today's leading model and the illusion is ruined. <sigh>
November 19, 2025 at 3:40 AM
It's increasingly tempting to believe frontier models truly understand concepts and their relationships like humans do. Then I get a figure like this from today's leading model and the illusion is ruined. <sigh>
Is there an academic/industry divide in attitudes about using AI to support discovery? I noticed this post has 3.6k likes on X but only 6 likes on Bluesky. It deserves more attention here!
Today, we're announcing Kosmos, our newest AI Scientist, available today. Kosmos makes fully autonomous scientific discoveries at scale by analyzing datasets and literature, and is the most powerful agent for science so far. Beta users estimate that Kosmos does 6 months of work in a single day.
November 17, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Is there an academic/industry divide in attitudes about using AI to support discovery? I noticed this post has 3.6k likes on X but only 6 likes on Bluesky. It deserves more attention here!
For a decade, my white whale as a neuroscientist has been working to convince public+private funders to "go big" on post-mortem human tissue analysis, so we can define circuit disruptions in disease and just maybe link them with molecular drivers. This remains as tough a sell today as 10 years ago.
November 17, 2025 at 2:23 PM
For a decade, my white whale as a neuroscientist has been working to convince public+private funders to "go big" on post-mortem human tissue analysis, so we can define circuit disruptions in disease and just maybe link them with molecular drivers. This remains as tough a sell today as 10 years ago.
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
Today, we're announcing Kosmos, our newest AI Scientist, available today. Kosmos makes fully autonomous scientific discoveries at scale by analyzing datasets and literature, and is the most powerful agent for science so far. Beta users estimate that Kosmos does 6 months of work in a single day.
November 5, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Today, we're announcing Kosmos, our newest AI Scientist, available today. Kosmos makes fully autonomous scientific discoveries at scale by analyzing datasets and literature, and is the most powerful agent for science so far. Beta users estimate that Kosmos does 6 months of work in a single day.
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
Very excited that the clinical trial results for our PRIMA retinal prosthesis are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine! This is the first time that patients who are blind due to photoreceptor loss have been able to intuitively see again.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_qT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_qT...
A global mission to restore vision | PRIMA by Science
YouTube video by Science
www.youtube.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Very excited that the clinical trial results for our PRIMA retinal prosthesis are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine! This is the first time that patients who are blind due to photoreceptor loss have been able to intuitively see again.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_qT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_qT...
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
Applying new tools to entire brains, starting with C. elegans, offers the opportunity to uncover how molecules work together to generate neural physiology, and how neurons generate behavior, write @kordinglab.bsky.social and @eboyden3.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/48EzEO8
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/48EzEO8
Whole-brain, bottom-up neuroscience: The time for it is now
Applying new tools to entire brains, starting with C. elegans, offers the opportunity to uncover how molecules work together to generate neural physiology and how neurons work together to generate…
bit.ly
October 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Applying new tools to entire brains, starting with C. elegans, offers the opportunity to uncover how molecules work together to generate neural physiology, and how neurons generate behavior, write @kordinglab.bsky.social and @eboyden3.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/48EzEO8
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/48EzEO8
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
Combinatorial protein barcodes enable self-correcting neuron tracing with nanoscale molecular context https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.26.678648v1
September 28, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Combinatorial protein barcodes enable self-correcting neuron tracing with nanoscale molecular context https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.26.678648v1
Settle a debate for me: If you could hook up a fruit fly brain to a completely new set of end effectors, could it learn to use them for goal-directed behavior? To what extent is an insect brain evolutionarily specialized for controlling its body? #FlyBCI
August 21, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Settle a debate for me: If you could hook up a fruit fly brain to a completely new set of end effectors, could it learn to use them for goal-directed behavior? To what extent is an insect brain evolutionarily specialized for controlling its body? #FlyBCI
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
How to make frontier AI models safer and accelerate drug discovery with the connectome. We are featured in this
@ifp.bsky.social article by @adammarblestone.bsky.social & @andrewcpayne.bsky.social
ifp.org/mapping-the-...
@ifp.bsky.social article by @adammarblestone.bsky.social & @andrewcpayne.bsky.social
ifp.org/mapping-the-...
Mapping the Brain for Alignment | IFP
How to map the mammalian brain’s connectome to solve fundamental problems in neuroscience, psychology, and AI robustness
ifp.org
August 12, 2025 at 1:39 AM
How to make frontier AI models safer and accelerate drug discovery with the connectome. We are featured in this
@ifp.bsky.social article by @adammarblestone.bsky.social & @andrewcpayne.bsky.social
ifp.org/mapping-the-...
@ifp.bsky.social article by @adammarblestone.bsky.social & @andrewcpayne.bsky.social
ifp.org/mapping-the-...
There is a famine currently affecting 640k children in Sudan, driven by military action funded by a key US ally in the Middle East. It's been widely reported in the media since 2023. Yet no condemnation by public figures, no demonstrations in the US. Why does no one care?
August 6, 2025 at 4:19 PM
There is a famine currently affecting 640k children in Sudan, driven by military action funded by a key US ally in the Middle East. It's been widely reported in the media since 2023. Yet no condemnation by public figures, no demonstrations in the US. Why does no one care?
Amazing work
How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
August 4, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Amazing work
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
(1/7) New preprint from Rajan lab! 🧠🤖
@ryanpaulbadman1.bsky.social & Riley Simmons-Edler show–through cog sci, neuro & ethology–how an AI agent with fewer ‘neurons’ than an insect can forage, find safety & dodge predators in a virtual world. Here's what we built
Preprint: arxiv.org/pdf/2506.06981
@ryanpaulbadman1.bsky.social & Riley Simmons-Edler show–through cog sci, neuro & ethology–how an AI agent with fewer ‘neurons’ than an insect can forage, find safety & dodge predators in a virtual world. Here's what we built
Preprint: arxiv.org/pdf/2506.06981
July 2, 2025 at 6:34 PM
(1/7) New preprint from Rajan lab! 🧠🤖
@ryanpaulbadman1.bsky.social & Riley Simmons-Edler show–through cog sci, neuro & ethology–how an AI agent with fewer ‘neurons’ than an insect can forage, find safety & dodge predators in a virtual world. Here's what we built
Preprint: arxiv.org/pdf/2506.06981
@ryanpaulbadman1.bsky.social & Riley Simmons-Edler show–through cog sci, neuro & ethology–how an AI agent with fewer ‘neurons’ than an insect can forage, find safety & dodge predators in a virtual world. Here's what we built
Preprint: arxiv.org/pdf/2506.06981
The writing's on the wall that the future of neuroscience is team science. The key question is how to balance support for "top-down" vs "bottom-up" collaborative research efforts. I agree teams of early career researchers deserve greater agency. Thoughtful piece by @neuralreckoning.bsky.social 👇
Large-scale projects run the risk of stifling scientific independence. Instead, let’s explore alternative mechanisms of collaboration, writes @neuralreckoning.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/funding/neur...
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/funding/neur...
Neuroscience needs to empower early-career researchers, not fund moon shots
Large-scale projects run the risk of stifling scientific independence. Instead, let’s explore alternative mechanisms of collaboration.
www.thetransmitter.org
May 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
The writing's on the wall that the future of neuroscience is team science. The key question is how to balance support for "top-down" vs "bottom-up" collaborative research efforts. I agree teams of early career researchers deserve greater agency. Thoughtful piece by @neuralreckoning.bsky.social 👇
This 👇 is a major advantage of optical circuit mapping approaches over non-destructive (i.e. non FIB) serial section EM. Fewer failure modes that prevent tracing across distinct imaging volumes.
An important addition to the Nature paper, beyond what was shown in the 2024 preprint, is 12 rounds of iterative imaging and sectioning of a LICONN volume, achieving 205 microns in axial extent (native scale) with manual tracing of axons: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
May 14, 2025 at 7:38 PM
This 👇 is a major advantage of optical circuit mapping approaches over non-destructive (i.e. non FIB) serial section EM. Fewer failure modes that prevent tracing across distinct imaging volumes.
Thought problem: If you could deeply phenotype a whole brain - mapping all ultrastructure and connectivity, plus in situ proteomics, metabolomics and transcriptomics - would that be sufficient to constrain a model of its function under all conditions? What's the minimal data needed for emulation?
May 5, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Thought problem: If you could deeply phenotype a whole brain - mapping all ultrastructure and connectivity, plus in situ proteomics, metabolomics and transcriptomics - would that be sufficient to constrain a model of its function under all conditions? What's the minimal data needed for emulation?
Gratified by today's news of a $155M seed round for DNA data storage newco Atlas, built on technologies developed under the IARPA MIST program. It validates my "if we de-risk it investors will come" thesis. Also means my public service has now driven >$1B of economic activity 🙂
May 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Gratified by today's news of a $155M seed round for DNA data storage newco Atlas, built on technologies developed under the IARPA MIST program. It validates my "if we de-risk it investors will come" thesis. Also means my public service has now driven >$1B of economic activity 🙂
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
I've said it publicly before and I'll say it again: science awards that preferentially recognize individuals are an anachronism. This just doesn't reflect how much of today's impactful science gets done. 4/
April 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I've said it publicly before and I'll say it again: science awards that preferentially recognize individuals are an anachronism. This just doesn't reflect how much of today's impactful science gets done. 4/
I received an email that I've personally been nominated for "2025 Breakthrough of the Year" for MICrONS, by a science org I won't call out here. 🧵
April 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I received an email that I've personally been nominated for "2025 Breakthrough of the Year" for MICrONS, by a science org I won't call out here. 🧵
Reposted by David A. Markowitz
“The MICrONS advances published in this special issue of Nature are a watershed moment for neuroscience, comparable to the Human Genome Project in their transformative potential"
How does the brain work?
Scientists are closer to the answer with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. 🧵
🧠📈
Scientists are closer to the answer with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. 🧵
🧠📈
April 9, 2025 at 5:24 PM
“The MICrONS advances published in this special issue of Nature are a watershed moment for neuroscience, comparable to the Human Genome Project in their transformative potential"