Expansion Microscopy Has Transformed How We See the Cellular World

Its a cool technology. I had a friend working on using expansion microscopy for neuron connectomics research. Apparently the route the lab was taking was introducing mutations to mouse brains that would cause protein expression that would physically color individual neurons at random, then using an optical microscope to view and trace neurons through an expanded sample.

While clearly brilliant in his origination of the expansion microscopy technique and others, it seems timely to point out that Ed Boyden was unfortunately tangled up with Epstein.

He tried to address concerns when his ties were surfaced by an earlier MIT report [1], claiming he "was uncomfortable at these meetings knowing that Epstein had been convicted of a serious crime" and “he only made these visits at Ito’s request”; however, the latest release from the DOJ shows he maintained a personal connection with Epstein for years, e.g. a visit to his ranch in 2013 [2] was followed by this 1-1 email message some years later [3]:

"From: Ed Boyden Sent:Sunday, July 10, 2016 4:52 PM To: jeffrey E.

Want to continue to discuss how we might model brain circuits in mathematically meaningful ways? Sounds like there could be some good synergies here (especially since I'm going to be spending my Fall focused on learning the necessary mathematics, hopefully to the point where I'll have creative new ideas about how we can model the structure and function of the brain, and make a contribution)!"

By his own admission, he was already aware of Epstein’s crimes when this email was sent.

[1] https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/comments-contextualizing-the... [2] [https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet 9/EFTA00966778.pdf](https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA009667...) [3] [https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet 9/EFTA00716200.pdf](https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA007162...)