The neurobiotic sense
Resident bacteria shed molecular patterns that the gut can sense. We found a sensory circuit that reads them and uses that signal to regulate feeding. 2025
What it means to be alive
"We are part of the Earth, not apart from it." On the science and mystery of visceral instinct. 2024
A gut-brain synapse
A method to identify a cell in its native tissue and reveal its nanostructure in 3D. 2022
The gut connectome
Outlining the network of gut cells that transforms food into thought. 2022
A needle in a haystack… on the moon
A method to identify a cell in its native tissue and reveal its nanostructure in 3D. 2022
The tuft cell nanostructure: unabridged
Tuft cells are misterious epithelial cells. We used 3D electron microscopy and uncover some of their unique features, including some cytospinules that connect with adjacent cells' nuclei. 2022
The neurobiology of a gut feeling
The neurobiology of a gut feeling. 2022
The pleasure of food
A neural circuit for gut induced reward. 2022
From gut to brain, on the matter of sugar
The desire to eat sugar is not born on the tongue. It arises from a chain of signals that begins at the gut surface and ends in the brain's reward circuits. 2022
How the gut tells sugar from sweetener
Sweetness is detected by the tongue, but the drive to choose sugar over a sweetener originates elsewhere. We found the neuropod cell responsible, and the two distinct signals it uses to tell the difference. 2022
The biology of neuropod cells
For decades, enteroendocrine cells were thought to communicate with the brain only through hormones. The discovery of neuropod cells changed that. A survey of what we now know and what remains to be understood. 2020
The messengers of the gut
A textbook account of what is known about the messengers of the gut. 2014
Neuropods
The roots of gut sense: their nature and nurture. 2014
Pondering about “Pods”
The emerging story of a mermaid cell with a graceful neck and a concealed fin. 2011
The infant gut
A deep look at the velvety fabric of the developing gut. 2011
Those “Pods”
“Discovery is seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought.” 2011