Fundamental Biomolecular Actors in Cells Remain Largely Invisible
Many of the fundamental actors in cells—proteins, lipids, and metabolites—are still mostly invisible to us, especially when considering their extensive multiplexity, diversity, cell-to-cell heterogeneity, and temporal variation. Without scalable, cost-effective technologies to capture these molecular details, our comprehensive analysis of complex biological systems remains limited.
Foundational Capabilities (4)
Establish foundational datasets and machine learning models for inverse
mass spectrometry of small molecules, enabling interpretation of metabolomic
data at the single-cell level.
Develop new technologies to improve the cost-performance of single-cell
proteomics (>100x), enabling proteome-wide analysis at scale. This would
allow proteins—the functional output of genetics—to be analyzed
comprehensively across complex biological systems. Some of these technologies
are single-molecule, some are not.
Develop technology suites for single-cell glycomics and lipidomics using
methods such as in-situ multi-cycle imaging or spatially resolved
nanopore/mass spectrometry. This would scale up the mapping of key molecules
beyond proteins and metabolites.