Marco Grillo’s journey: SciLifeLab collaboration unlocked brain evolution insights
A new paper in Science shows that the brain region responsible for key cognitive functions, such as intelligence, has different origins across species like mammals, birds, and reptiles. This suggests that these functions did not evolve from a common ancestor but instead developed independently through parallel evolution. SciLifeLab researcher Marco Grillo (Stockholm University) played a key role in the study, which builds on years of foundational research.
Before becoming a researcher at SciLifeLab, Marco Grillo worked on comparative embryonic development. When he later stepped into Mats Nilsson’s lab and witnessed the advancements made in spatial-omics. Marco saw an untapped potential for developmental biology, especially for non-model organisms. While commercial solutions focus primarily on human and mouse research, he recognized that many researchers studying other species were being left out. This realization became a driving force for his work. Shaping the path that ultimately led to the recent paper in Science, “Evolutionary convergence of sensory circuits in the pallium of amniotes”.
“This was a very strange project for Mats’ lab,” Marco admits. Nilsson’s team has traditionally focused on medical applications, but he remained supportive of Marco’s vision.
“SciLifeLab played a crucial role in making this research possible”
A turning point came when Fernando Garcia Moreno’s team at the Achucarro Center for Neuroscience in Spain secured an EASI-genomics grant. This funding allowed them to access SciLifeLab’s in situ sequencing (ISS) facility. One of the few places in the world where such data could be generated at the time. Marco, as a SciLifeLab researcher, was heavily involved in planning, designing, and executing many of the experiments. His contributions, alongside PhD student Sergio Marco Salas, were key for handling the spatial-omics aspects, from data generation to analysis.
“SciLifeLab played a crucial role in making this research possible in multiple ways, through personnel, infrastructure, research culture, and expertise,” Marco says.
Hacking technology to meet specific needs
But this Science paper didn’t emerge from nothing, it was built on foundational work. Marco and his colleagues had previously developed technologies that enabled them to approach their research question as they envisioned. These efforts, published in the summer of 2024, may not have had the same spotlight, but they laid the groundwork for what was to come (Open-source high-throughput targeted in situ sequencing and BirthSeq: a new method to isolate and analyze dated neurons).
Their open-source, high-throughput in situ sequencing workflow allowed them to “hack” and tailor the technology to their specific needs, something that remains possible only in a handful of places, with SciLifeLab being one of them.
Looking ahead, Marco believes this type of research will only become more common, particularly with SciLifeLab’s focus on Planetary Biology. This paper highlights not just the scientific advancements in spatial-omics. But also how open, collaborative environments like SciLifeLab can drive innovation and push boundaries.
Read the news item from Stockholm University to get a more research focused perspective
