Max Heiman
@heiman.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Genetics
Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital
It should be fun, or what's the point?
http://heimanlab.com
Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital
It should be fun, or what's the point?
http://heimanlab.com
"Before we were born did you already make unfunny jokes, or did you only start when we were born because then they're dad jokes?"
January 7, 2026 at 12:22 AM
"Before we were born did you already make unfunny jokes, or did you only start when we were born because then they're dad jokes?"
Reposted by Max Heiman
How do cells fabricate nanoscale extracellular matrix structures? Inagaki, Hayashi et al. @riken-bdr.bsky.social show that the ER network stimulates complex remodeling of the plasma membrane, thereby patterning nanoscale cuticular pore formation in insect sensilla. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
January 6, 2026 at 7:02 PM
How do cells fabricate nanoscale extracellular matrix structures? Inagaki, Hayashi et al. @riken-bdr.bsky.social show that the ER network stimulates complex remodeling of the plasma membrane, thereby patterning nanoscale cuticular pore formation in insect sensilla. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
Reposted by Max Heiman
In #GENETICS, @inechipurenko.bsky.social and colleagues studied the effects of mutations in the GNAI1, a G protein–coupled receptor gene, identifying their effects on ciliogenesis in human cells and #Celegans. buff.ly/MF1bSVn
December 31, 2025 at 7:03 PM
In #GENETICS, @inechipurenko.bsky.social and colleagues studied the effects of mutations in the GNAI1, a G protein–coupled receptor gene, identifying their effects on ciliogenesis in human cells and #Celegans. buff.ly/MF1bSVn
Reposted by Max Heiman
Modern biology research is biased towards investigating genes that are widely conserved and present in humans. What about genes that ARE widely conserved but NOT present in humans? Can genes missing from humans tell us something about what makes our biology different from that of other animals? 1/8
December 31, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Modern biology research is biased towards investigating genes that are widely conserved and present in humans. What about genes that ARE widely conserved but NOT present in humans? Can genes missing from humans tell us something about what makes our biology different from that of other animals? 1/8
"Snowflakes! What a classic peaceful New England --"
Cardinals: "Fill the feeder you lazy @$#%"
Cardinals: "Fill the feeder you lazy @$#%"
December 25, 2025 at 4:01 PM
"Snowflakes! What a classic peaceful New England --"
Cardinals: "Fill the feeder you lazy @$#%"
Cardinals: "Fill the feeder you lazy @$#%"
Vote worm!
by @wormkaiden.bsky.social Kaiden Power in our lab
.. although I've got to say those Malpighian tubules are looking sharp too!
by @wormkaiden.bsky.social Kaiden Power in our lab
.. although I've got to say those Malpighian tubules are looking sharp too!
We’ve highlighted some wonderful images and researchers in our ‘Featured image’ series in 2025. To celebrate, we’re inviting you to vote for your favourite in our image competition!
#FluorescenceFriday
Check them out here: focalplane.biologists.com/2025/12/19/v...
#FluorescenceFriday
Check them out here: focalplane.biologists.com/2025/12/19/v...
Vote for your favourite 'Featured image' from 2025 - FocalPlane
Vote for your favourite 'Featured image' from 2025 - News
focalplane.biologists.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Vote worm!
by @wormkaiden.bsky.social Kaiden Power in our lab
.. although I've got to say those Malpighian tubules are looking sharp too!
by @wormkaiden.bsky.social Kaiden Power in our lab
.. although I've got to say those Malpighian tubules are looking sharp too!
Reposted by Max Heiman
Hot off the press at EMBO Journal. The culmination of several years of work and hopefully useful to people in the field!
BIG Shout-out to Review Commons, who handled the submission. It's a sensible and efficient model and all the journals I like (Society and NFP) are already participating. 🙏
BIG Shout-out to Review Commons, who handled the submission. It's a sensible and efficient model and all the journals I like (Society and NFP) are already participating. 🙏
Integrating endogenous TurboID and data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry for in vivo proximity labeling - The EMBO Journal
Proximity labeling has emerged as a powerful approach for identifying protein–protein interaction networks within living systems, particularly those involving weak or transient associations. Here, we ...
link.springer.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Hot off the press at EMBO Journal. The culmination of several years of work and hopefully useful to people in the field!
BIG Shout-out to Review Commons, who handled the submission. It's a sensible and efficient model and all the journals I like (Society and NFP) are already participating. 🙏
BIG Shout-out to Review Commons, who handled the submission. It's a sensible and efficient model and all the journals I like (Society and NFP) are already participating. 🙏
Second that!
We are highlighting Jennifer Waters, a @focalplane.bsky.social Scientific Advisory Board member, Director of CITE, Harvard Medical School, and creator of MicroList (now featured in FocalPlane) and Microtutor, as an extraordinary biologist. #100biologists
@jencwaters.bsky.social
@jencwaters.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Second that!
The key to getting any task done is having another task that you want to do even less.
November 23, 2025 at 2:06 AM
The key to getting any task done is having another task that you want to do even less.
Reposted by Max Heiman
So proud of my newest lab member!
November 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM
So proud of my newest lab member!
Reposted by Max Heiman
#aECM Cub starts next week Nov 18 with talks on patterning the Drosophila lens, mouse tectorial membrane, and C.elegans cuticle furrows. You can still sign up for access using the link below.
The 2025-2026 #aECM club schedule is now posted on our website, where you can also find the link to sign up for access. I’m looking forward to lots of great talks and discussions! sundaramlab.com/blog/aecm-cl...
aECM Club Seminars
A virtual seminar series to highlight work on apical ECM across different systems Organizers: Meera Sundaram, UPennMax Heiman, Boston Children’s, Harvard U.Nathalie Pujol, U. Aix MarseilleJor…
sundaramlab.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:56 AM
#aECM Cub starts next week Nov 18 with talks on patterning the Drosophila lens, mouse tectorial membrane, and C.elegans cuticle furrows. You can still sign up for access using the link below.
Reposted by Max Heiman
High-efficiency targeted integration of extrachromosomal arrays in C. elegans using PhiC31 integrase https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.11.687718v1
November 13, 2025 at 2:32 AM
High-efficiency targeted integration of extrachromosomal arrays in C. elegans using PhiC31 integrase https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.11.687718v1
Reposted by Max Heiman
In this Opinion piece, Rachel Turn, Mohammad Ovais Aziz-Zanjani, Anushweta Asthana & Peter Jackson highlight strategies for multiplexing diverse approaches to map transient phosphorylations driving ciliary function & G0 in health versus disease.
#JCSciliaSI
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
#JCSciliaSI
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
November 10, 2025 at 3:03 PM
In this Opinion piece, Rachel Turn, Mohammad Ovais Aziz-Zanjani, Anushweta Asthana & Peter Jackson highlight strategies for multiplexing diverse approaches to map transient phosphorylations driving ciliary function & G0 in health versus disease.
#JCSciliaSI
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
#JCSciliaSI
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Reposted by Max Heiman
Wut.
A.I. is to intelligence what a scarecrow is to a human. Sure, some birds might confuse them, but that does not make them the same.
A.I. is to intelligence what a scarecrow is to a human. Sure, some birds might confuse them, but that does not make them the same.
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“A.I. is no less a form of intelligence than digital photography is a form of photography,” the philosopher Barbara Gail Montero writes in a guest essay. “And now A.I. is on its way to doing something even more remarkable: becoming conscious.”
“A.I. is no less a form of intelligence than digital photography is a form of photography,” the philosopher Barbara Gail Montero writes in a guest essay. “And now A.I. is on its way to doing something even more remarkable: becoming conscious.”
Opinion | A.I. Is Already Intelligent. This Is How It Becomes Conscious.
Skeptics overlook how our concepts change.
nyti.ms
November 9, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Wut.
A.I. is to intelligence what a scarecrow is to a human. Sure, some birds might confuse them, but that does not make them the same.
A.I. is to intelligence what a scarecrow is to a human. Sure, some birds might confuse them, but that does not make them the same.
How many (active) C. elegans labs are there?
November 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
How many (active) C. elegans labs are there?
I thought the "most dangerous animal in the world" was us!
A global effort, led by @leslievosshall.bsky.social and @nadavshai.bsky.social, just made the most dangerous animal in the world a lot easier to study—and perhaps defeat one day.
Learn more about the first head-to-toe cellular atlas of the mosquito, published in @cellpress.bsky.social, below.
Learn more about the first head-to-toe cellular atlas of the mosquito, published in @cellpress.bsky.social, below.
Researchers release the world’s first head-to-toe cellular atlas of the mosquito - News
The atlas makes the most dangerous animal in the world a lot easier to study—and perhaps defeat one day.
www.rockefeller.edu
October 30, 2025 at 9:25 PM
I thought the "most dangerous animal in the world" was us!
Reposted by Max Heiman
From the lab of Maxwell Heiman discussing the interesting topic of apical ECM and the function of sensing organs and how these ECM proteins can both mechanically and biochemically modulate the organ's functions.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cd...
doi.org/10.1016/j.cd...
October 30, 2025 at 5:48 PM
From the lab of Maxwell Heiman discussing the interesting topic of apical ECM and the function of sensing organs and how these ECM proteins can both mechanically and biochemically modulate the organ's functions.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cd...
doi.org/10.1016/j.cd...
Reposted by Max Heiman
The ECM is no longer in the back seat when it comes to development. Check out our special issue "Dynamics of the extracellular matrix in development, cell physiology and disease" with 8 selected articles to learn more: A 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Cells & Development | Dynamics of the extracellular matrix in development, cell physiology and disease. | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier
Extracellular matrices (ECMs) are everywhere in our body– from the sheet-like basement membranes that line epithelia and other tissues - to the loose stromal arrays of mesenchyme - to the rigid struct...
www.sciencedirect.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The ECM is no longer in the back seat when it comes to development. Check out our special issue "Dynamics of the extracellular matrix in development, cell physiology and disease" with 8 selected articles to learn more: A 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Reposted by Max Heiman
Excited to share our latest work on a new cilia disassembly pathway and a link between this pathway and the neurological disorder focal cortical dysplasia: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Brief summary: we used a genome-wide CRISPRa GOF screen to identify negative regulators of ciliary signaling...
Brief summary: we used a genome-wide CRISPRa GOF screen to identify negative regulators of ciliary signaling...
A CRISPR activation screen reveals a cilia disassembly pathway mutated in focal cortical dysplasia
A gain-of-function screen uncovers a cilia disassembly pathway linked to genes somatically mutated in neurodevelopmental disease.
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Excited to share our latest work on a new cilia disassembly pathway and a link between this pathway and the neurological disorder focal cortical dysplasia: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Brief summary: we used a genome-wide CRISPRa GOF screen to identify negative regulators of ciliary signaling...
Brief summary: we used a genome-wide CRISPRa GOF screen to identify negative regulators of ciliary signaling...
Reposted by Max Heiman
Micropublication @micropub7n.bsky.social is peer reviewed and PubMed indexed. A great way to get the data out in uncertain times
👇🏼
👇🏼
"Due to a variety of circumstances...many science projects will never be finished, despite years of invested resources and effort. By carefully and strategically documenting scientific work achieved, components of unfinished projects can be salvaged and preserved to benefit future researchers." 🧪
When goodbye comes too soon: How to wrap up science projects quickly
Science projects are designed and funded on the scale of years, so what happens when researchers need to finish prematurely? This Community Page discusses solutions for quickly documenting partially f...
journals.plos.org
October 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Micropublication @micropub7n.bsky.social is peer reviewed and PubMed indexed. A great way to get the data out in uncertain times
👇🏼
👇🏼
Reposted by Max Heiman
🔊New preprint from our lab!
Zygotene cilia regulates meiosis, germ cell development, and fertility in zebrafish, mice, and humans
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Zygotene cilia regulates meiosis, germ cell development, and fertility in zebrafish, mice, and humans
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Zygotene cilia regulate meiosis, germ cell development and fertility in zebrafish, mice, and humans
Germ cells accurately organize their chromosomes through the program of meiosis to successfully generate haploid gametes for fertilization1. Chromosomal pairing, which is essential for homologous reco...
www.researchsquare.com
October 26, 2025 at 4:01 PM
🔊New preprint from our lab!
Zygotene cilia regulates meiosis, germ cell development, and fertility in zebrafish, mice, and humans
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Zygotene cilia regulates meiosis, germ cell development, and fertility in zebrafish, mice, and humans
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Reposted by Max Heiman
US citizens, if you can please donate to help Paul Maddox run for Congress in his home district in Western NC.
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Donate to Paul Maddox for Congress in NC 11
Paul is running for Congress because there’s a sickness in Washington, and no one is working to cure it.
secure.actblue.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
US citizens, if you can please donate to help Paul Maddox run for Congress in his home district in Western NC.
A microscopist with a vision! Go Paul!
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Donate to Paul Maddox for Congress in NC 11
Paul is running for Congress because there’s a sickness in Washington, and no one is working to cure it.
secure.actblue.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:20 AM
A microscopist with a vision! Go Paul!
Reposted by Max Heiman
Jensen, @peiferlabunc.bsky.social et al. @unclineberger.bsky.social reveal that the intrinsically disordered region of Canoe is critical for its role in linking cell–cell adherens junctions to the #cytoskeleton. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#Development #Adhesion #Drosophila
#Development #Adhesion #Drosophila
October 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Jensen, @peiferlabunc.bsky.social et al. @unclineberger.bsky.social reveal that the intrinsically disordered region of Canoe is critical for its role in linking cell–cell adherens junctions to the #cytoskeleton. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#Development #Adhesion #Drosophila
#Development #Adhesion #Drosophila
Reposted by Max Heiman
Despite the mess, we are grateful to be funded, have exciting science happening, and have an opening for a postdoc!
If you are interested in sensory biology and esp in cilia, thermosensation, or interoception, and would like to join an interactive & supportive group - please email.
Please RT 🙏
If you are interested in sensory biology and esp in cilia, thermosensation, or interoception, and would like to join an interactive & supportive group - please email.
Please RT 🙏
October 16, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Despite the mess, we are grateful to be funded, have exciting science happening, and have an opening for a postdoc!
If you are interested in sensory biology and esp in cilia, thermosensation, or interoception, and would like to join an interactive & supportive group - please email.
Please RT 🙏
If you are interested in sensory biology and esp in cilia, thermosensation, or interoception, and would like to join an interactive & supportive group - please email.
Please RT 🙏