Tracing genetics to biological circuits
We study how changes in our genes alter the way cells develop and work together, with a focus on disorders affecting the brain and heart.
Finding a gene associated with disease is a starting point. The next step is understanding what that change does: which cells it affects, when problems begin, and how those problems alter development and function. Our research follows this path from genes to cells and neural circuits.
At the Gene2Circuit Lab, we investigate how genetic changes alter the way cells develop, communicate, and function. We ask whether different disease-associated genes disrupt shared biological processes, and why some affect both the heart and the brain.
Using human stem cell models, CRISPR-based gene editing, and single-cell profiling, we trace these effects from changes within individual cells to the activity of cellular networks. By studying these processes across tissues, we investigate where the effects of genetic changes are shared and where they differ.
Our goal is to build systematic maps linking genes to cellular function and identify where interventions could restore function or reduce vulnerability to disease.
Gene2Circuit Lab led by Novin Balafkan and Sadaf Ghorbani, based at the Bergen Center for Medical Stem Cell Research, Haukeland University Hospital & University of Bergen — within, the Mohn Research Centre for Regenerative Medicine (MRCRM)
