Hugo Bellin and Catherine Tasner Drosophila The Neurogenetics Lecture recognizes early career scientists and faculty in an important space. Drosophila Research – Those who study genetics as applied to neuroscience. Drosophila. Their work helps improve our understanding of how neurons develop, function, connect and respond to stimuli to control behavior.
How does the brain wire itself with extraordinary precision without relying on experience? This fundamental question has guided M. Neşet Özel’s research for nearly 15 years and continues to shape his laboratory work at the Storrs Institute.
In its broadest sense, Ozil’s research seeks to understand how genetically hard-wired neural circuits form during development.
As a graduate student, he approached the problem from a cell biology perspective. Using long-term live imaging of developing fly brains, he investigated how filopodial dynamics guide axons and mediate synapse formation. During this period, rapid advances in connectomics highlighted its remarkable complexity. Drosophila Visual system – hundreds of neuronal types connected with amazing precision by processes completely independent of experience.
This accuracy pointed to a powerful genetic program. Each neuron’s shape, connectivity, and function are encoded by a specific combination of genes that define its identity. Ozil recognized that to understand the molecular logic of brain wiring, it is first important to understand how different neuronal cell fates are determined.
Decoding neuronal identity
As a postdoctoral researcher, Ozil focused his attention on elucidating the gene expression programs that define neuronal identity. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, he characterized more than 200 neuronal types in the developing brain. Drosophila Optic lobes.
This large-scale atlas yielded several broadly applicable insights into brain development. Almost all neuronal types in the optic lobe can be molecularly identified within hours of their terminal division and directly linked to their mature counterparts. His work also defined a collection of terminal selector transcription factors—genes that direct neuronal identity through sustained expression in specific subsets of neurons throughout the system.
Ozil showed that predictable and complete conversions of one neuronal type to another could be made by genetically manipulating this selector code. Indeed, alterations in the gene regulatory program can change one neuronal identity to another.
A Predictive Future for Neurodevelopment
Looking ahead, Özel aims to integrate genomic technologies with computational modeling and machine learning approaches to generate empirically testable hypotheses about neural development. These predictions are evaluated directly at the bench using advanced genetics, imaging, and behavioral testing.
The long-term goal is to potentially rewire neural circuits by rewiring their gene regulatory networks.
why Drosophila?
Ozil knew he wanted to be a neuroscientist early in high school. His first experience with Drosophila Genetics, however, came during a summer internship after my second year of university. In graduate school, after rotating through both mouse and fly neurobiology laboratories, he joined Robin Heisinger’s lab to study the development of the fly visual system.
He was finally attracted. Drosophila Because of the depth of questions that can be addressed in this highly viable model system. The fly brain contains more than 5,000 distinct neuronal types, approaching the diversity of small mammals. Combined with an extensive genetic toolkit that enables precise manipulation of specific neurons and circuits during development and function, Drosophila Provides unique experimental power to dissect neural development.
Advice for future nominees
For scientists considering nominating themselves or colleagues for future awards, Ozil’s advice is straightforward: Apply.
About 15 years later Drosophila Neurobiology, he has seen the breadth of cutting-edge research emerging from the field. Many prominent scientists are advancing fly genetics and neurobiology in important ways. He encourages persistence. Those not selected in one round should consider reapplying in the future.
Don’t miss M. Neşet Özel’s lecture on March 8, 2026 during the upcoming 67th annual Drosophila Research Conference in Chicago. Learn more at https://genetics-gsa.org/drosophila-2026/
To learn more about Özel’s work, visit his lab’s website.
