Putting the shopping cart away in the corral is a moral obligation.

Special thanks go to Jacque Pak Kan Ip for years of amazing scientific conversations, his lab's hard work, and staying up late to make our international biweekly Zoom meetings possible for over 5 years!

Then, we selected circHomer1 as a candidate circular RNA to explore in more detail. Through quantitative PCR, circHomer1 specific knockdown, in vivo and ex vivo measures of plasticity, and dendritic spine imaging, we found that circHomer1 was critical for dendritic spine development and plasticity.

Circular and messenger RNA are made from the same genes, though. So how can we isolate what the circular RNA is doing in response to plasticity? We used RNA sequencing following experience-dependent plasticity to identify circular RNAs whose change in expression diverged from their mRNA counterpart.

This includes, of course, circular RNAs that loop back on themselves. While these RNAs are few in number they are remarkably stable, enriched in the brain, and studies suggest they can influence synaptic plasticity; the mechanism by which changes in the brain occur.

And of course, honored to be able to share our work with you all! When people mention RNA, they are usually talking about messenger (m)RNA, the RNA that our cells translate to make proteins. However, while most RNA is in fact mRNA, there are many other types of RNAs.

Oh God, does that cover give me flashbacks. One of the scariest Disney villains of all time.

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Parmesan rind in soup was a revelation for me a few years ago. It may end up being a soup week now.