Dr Christoph Treiber
About
Dr Christoph Treiber leads a multi-disciplinary research group at the Department of Biology, Oxford University, exploring how variations in our genome shape the brain’s remarkable abilities and contribute to individual behavioural idiosyncrasies. His work harnesses advanced single-cell sequencing technologies to create detailed maps of brain cells and uncover the influence of mobile genetic elements on genes, neurons and neural circuits.
Beyond exploring what makes each brain unique, Dr Treiber studies the universal principles of information processing in brains, with the aim of projecting strategies of natural intelligence onto artificial intelligence algorithms. By bridging neuroscience and AI, his innovative research promises to unlock new ways of understanding the brain and will help design smarter, more adaptive AI systems.
Expertise
- Single-cell atlas, characterising every single cell of a complex tissue (e.g. Human Cell Atlas)
- Investigating neural circuits
- Mobile genetic elements, also known as transposable elements or transposons – first discovered by Barbara McKlintock
- Engram cells – investigating the molecules and cells involved in the formation, consolidation and retrieval of memories
- Behavioural individuality (near-identical genomes lead to highly idiosyncratic behaviours)
- Natural and Artificial Intelligence – studying the fundamental principles of information processing in brains to enhance the interpretation and design of new AI systems
- The brain connectome of the fruit fly
- Learning and memory, and age-dependent neural decline
Selected publications
- Dopaminergic systems create reward seeking despite adverse consequences (Nature, 2023)
- Gliotransmission of D-serine promotes thirst-directed behaviors in Drosophila (Current Biology, 2022)
- Fly Cell Atlas: A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adult fruit fly (Science, 2022)
- Transposon expression in the Drosophila brain is driven by neighboring genes and diversifies the neural transcriptome (Genome Research, 2020)
- A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the adult Drosophila ventral nerve cord (eLife, 2020)
- Cellular diversity in the Drosophila midbrain revealed by single-cell transcriptomics (eLife, 2018)
- Resolving the prevalence of somatic transposition in Drosophila (eLife, 2017)
- Clusters of iron-rich cells in the upper beak of pigeons are macrophages not magnetosensitive neurons (Nature, 2012)
Recent media work
- A moving story: Could transposons in the neural genome be contributing to individual differences in brain and behaviour? (2022)
- Genes That "Jump" May Rewire Neuronal Function in the Brain (Technology Networks, 2022)
- An Immense World (chapter on sensing magnetic fields, which prominently features research on pigeon magnetoreception, 2022)
- 'Junk' DNA inherited from our ancient ancestors could be rewiring our brains and altering our behaviour and emotions (2020)
- David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities (Documentary, David Attenborough presents research on pigeon magnetoreception, 2017)
Languages
English, German (native), French