A new star on the Kavli sky

- I just realized that I was late. I was busy holding egg shells with tiny forceps to zebrafish to get free. It’s kind of like a chick, which doesn’t always get out on its own, Yaksi says and laughs so loud that our laptop speaker scratches.

This is how our interview starts. We meet the Turkish 36-year-old via Skype, but even though video transferring is disabled, it feels like Yaksi is in and all over the room. His passion is contagious. He reminds of May-Britt and Edvard Moser.

- The fish is so happy to get out, they’re swimming all over the place, Yaksi says.

- So this is what your research is about?

- Not exactly. This is the fun part.

Clear view to the brain

Yaksi explains that he uses zebra fish because they are transparent and small. This means that you, by using optical techniques, can see straight in to their brains. A big part of the research in Yaksi’s lab is trying to understand how brain activity handles external activity.

- The advantage by looking at small zebrafish brains is that they only have 10 – 20 000 neurons. The human brain is far more complex, and consists of about 80 billion neurons. Even though the zebrafish are equipped with small and simple brains, they still have to swim, find food and partners and avoid enemies. This is the reason these brains still have several similarities with the human brain. Because they are smaller and less complex, it is also easier to unravel their basic functions.

At the age of 36, Yaksi has achieved much. After starting at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara in 1996, he has been awarded with both an ERC grant and the Federation of European Neuroscience Young Investigator Prize.

The zebrafish swims in lines across Yaksi's CV, and became his path into the sea of research. Zebrafish was the topic in his Master degree at Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Hedelberg, Germany. He also took his zebrafish Ph.D. at the same institute, before accepting a postdoc position at Harvard in 2007. For three years zebrafish was replaced with fruit flies in Yaksi’s research. In 2013 he started working as director of Neuroelectronics Research Flanders by Vlaams Instituut vor Biotechnologie in Belgium.

- We are interested in all the universal functions in our brains. For example, if you look at the architecture that makes us able to recognize a certain smell, it is either very close or far away. There are very different receptors being activated at different distances. This is common brain function, it doesn’t matter if you’re a zebrafish or a human being, Yaksi explains.

Epilepsy, autism and retardation

Even though Yaksi and his team are working with basic research, like the Moser lab, they also conduct applied research, to some extent. Two of their students are trying to understand what happens when a zebrafish gets an epileptic seizure. If you can understand what happens and what causes this, you may be able to prevent it. Yaksi is also looking into fish syndromes comparable to conditions causing autism and retardation for human beings.

- We are trying to understand what’s wrong in how these brains are connected. Still, our labs main focus is trying to understand how our brain handles information, depending on our present condition: We react different to the smell of food, dependent of whether we are hungry or not.

- How can you use the knowledge you get from this research?

- Some forms of medical treatment do work, even though we can’t explain why. If we understand the mechanisms in the brains, we can stimulate the development of better and more sophisticated treatment.

In January Yaksi and three of his co-workers moves from Belgium to Øya and the Kavli institute in Trondheim. Yaksi group then becomes the seventh research group at the Kavli institute, including the Moser group. The Turkish researcher is now searching for new postdocs for his group.

- I have started interviewing candidates. Engineers constitute about half of my staff. I am actually looking for candidates educated in either physics or engineering, with interest in applying their knowledge in neuroscience. They might perform tasks like using applied mathematics to understand or large sets of data, or building optical tools like microscopes.

Engineers in basic research

Yaksi lab belongs to a institute basically consisting of engineers for a few more months.

- Biologists are the rare specie here. We are surrounded by 2000 engineers. I have understood that you have a similar structure at NTNU, and I have heard that NTNU has got the best education for engineers in Norway. Maybe some of them can come and work for me, Yaksi says.

- Why did you want to come to NTNU?

- The Mosers was the most important factor. I contacted Edvard and May-Britt a while ago, explaining I was interested in moving my lab. They replied by saying they wanted more diversity at their institute. Most of their researchers now focus on hippocampus. I want to add more diversity regarding which parts of neuroscience the Kavli institute researches.

Yaksi is impressed by the work environment and enthusiasm at the institute. He perceives both researchers and other employees as quite happy, and he approves of the flat structure. Also, and maybe most important, he expect to have more time to develop his lab and research group.

- Edvard and May-Britt Moser were just awarded the Nobel Prize. Now you are becoming a part of their team. What do you think about the timing?

Yaksi again laughs loud, before he concentrates to answer the question:

- The timing is perfect. I accepted the position before they got the Nobel Prize, so it did not influence my choice, but I am very happy for the increased attention to the institute. The probable implication is that better candidates will want to work with us.

Rush of applicants

The zebrafish researcher explains how the Nobel Prize has affected him and his lab: Normally his website has 50-60 visitors every day. For a couple of days after the Moser’s was awarded the prize, the number increased to 900 visitors.

- If you enter the Kavli institute website, you see a poster congratulating Edvard and May-Britt. Just below this poster there is a link saying “Yaksi lab is looking for postdocs”. It has been significant increase of applicants after the Moser’s was awarded the Nobel Prize.

- Are you going to work directly with them?

- It will be more of a side-by-side, and they will be involved in my work, but at the same time we will be an independent lab. However, everyone at the institute is helping each other.

When the lab is ready, it will have 650 water tanks with 10-15 fish in each. Yaksi expects to have a total of 6-7000 zebrafish.

- The Moser’s have equipped their rats with pet names, and seem to take good care of them. Have you named your fishes likewise – and do they live good lives?

A mixture of laughter and coughing again pours out of the laptop speaker.

- Unfortunately they will not get names, but I can assure you that I care very much about them, Yaksi says.