Lord Lecture Day 1 of 2 | Professor Xiaowei Zhuang (Harvard University)

About this event

Title: Spatially resolved single-cell genomics and functional genomics

Xiaowei Zhuang

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University

Abstract : Cell and tissue functions arise from coordinated activities of thousands of genes expressed in numerous different types of cells. Understanding the functions of cells and tissues thus requires imaging at the genome scale, which will advance our understanding in many areas of biology, ranging from the regulation of gene expression in cells to the diversity, organization, and functions of cells in complex tissues. We developed a single-cell genome-scale imaging method, multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH), which enables spatially resolved single-cell transcriptomics, epigenomics, 3D genomics, and functional genomics. The ability of MERFISH to perform single-cell transcriptomic profiling in intact tissues allows the identification, spatial mapping, and functional investigation of distinct cell types in intact tissues. Spatial epigenomics and 3D-genomics additionally provide insights into the gene regulatory mechanisms that give rise to the distinct cell types. MERFISH-based functional genomics further allows genotype-phenotype mapping of cells in vivo, providing a high-throughput approach to investigate molecular mechanisms of cell and tissue functions. In this talk, I will describe the MERFISH technology and its applications, with a focus on the molecular, spatial, and functional organizations of distinct cell types in the brain and genetic regulators of liver functions.

Group Website:

https://zhuang.harvard.edu/

Refreshments will be served outside of 6-120.