Home Department: Bioengineering
Mentor: Thomas Südhof, Molecular & Cellular Physiology

Synaptogenesis, which refers to the formation of synapses and connections between neurons, is an extremely important process in the development of an organism’s nervous system. When the gene ARMCX3 is knocked out in human-induced neuron cells, the induced neuron’s synapses demonstrate morphological and electrophysiolog-ical defects. In his Stanford Bio-X project, Stephen will examine these changes to more fully understand the role of the ARMCX3 gene in synaptogenesis, which could help us to understand neurological and neurodegenerative disorders.