Expertise

Topics:  Computational Biology, Neural Function, Human Biology, Genomics, Disease Predisposition, Speech Production‎

Industries: Biotechnology

Over the last several decades, the genetic revolution has showed us that much of human biology, even complex behavior, is encoded in our genome. Most of the variation in genome sequence that influences neurological disease predisposition and behavioral ability occurs in the vast regulatory regions between genes. The goal of the Pfenning laboratory is to build a set of computational and experimental genomic tools to study how sequence differences in those regions influence neurons, neural circuits, disease predisposition, and behavior. By understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying neural function, we seek to uncover the cell type-specific basis of Alzheimer’s disease and addiction, as well as gain insights into how speech production ability evolved in the human lineage.

Media Experience

Similar genetic elements underlie vocal learning in mammals  — Phys.org
"New artificial intelligence methods were needed to help find evolutionary signals in regulatory elements across hundreds of genomes," said Pfenning, a corresponding author on the new study and an associate professor in CMU's Ray and Stephanie Lane Computational Biology Department affiliated with the Neuroscience Institute and Department of Biological Sciences. "We're entering an exciting era where AI is improving our ability to trace human evolutionary history. Studying the gene regulatory elements requires building a map of which ones are active in the relevant brain region of species with vocal learning behavior."

What bats can teach us about the evolution of human speech  — UC Berkeley News
“We found that the types of cells that form long range connections in the human and bat brain are the same ones that we discovered as most relevant to vocal learning based on the genetic analysis,” Pfenning said. “The anatomy and genetics are both pointing to the same mechanism underlying the evolution of vocal learning across mammals and speech production in humans.”

New Technique Isolates Brain Cells Associated With Parkinson's Disease  — CMU News
"Even a small portion of the brain can have dozens of different cell types," said Andreas Pfenning, an assistant professor in CMU's Computational Biology Department. "Each of these cell types has different roles in the behavior of an animal and also in disease." Separating cells of a certain type from their neighbors is thus a critical first step for researchers who want to study them.

Expanding set of viral tools targets almost any brain cell type  — The Transmitter
What’s more, transgenic mice aren’t always the most appropriate model organism. Rodents don’t naturally develop the plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s disease, for example, but scientists use them anyway because the genetic tools to investigate the condition in them are established, says Andreas Pfenning, associate professor of computational biology at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not involved in the work. “What would be really cool is to move beyond mice and into these more appropriate models for certain things,” Pfenning says.

Science and Diversity In Film: Behind The Scenes Of ANYA  — Forbes
The film ANYA centers on a couple in New York City who are struggling with infertility. When they turn to their scientist friend for advice, he discovers a possible genetic reason, which affects an entire community of immigrants from the fictional island of Narval. The lab scenes in ANYA were filmed in Andreas Pfenning’s lab at Carnegie Mellon University, where McCole was further supported by PhD student Alyssa Lawler. They kept an eye to make sure the experiments looked realistic.