Researchers create a molecular 'Google map' of the brain (IMAGE)
Caption
Researchers from Bar-Ilan University, Harvard University and MIT have developed a technology that allows them, for the first time, to pinpoint millions of RNA molecules mapped inside tissues with nanoscale resolution. The new technology represents a significant step forward in efforts to treat complex diseases and in Alzheimer's and cancer research. It was created by merging two methods - one to map RNA molecules inside simple cells, and the other to physically 'blow-up' cells and tissues. This photo provides an overview of the expansion sequencing technology which enables multiplexed mapping of RNAs at nanoscale resolution throughout intact tissues. On the top: schematics of physical expansion and in situ sequencing (left), and image analysis (right). On the bottom: characterization of nanoscale transcriptomic compartmentalization in mouse hippocampal neuron dendrites and spines (left, middle), and maps of cell types and states in a metastatic human breast cancer biopsy (right).
Credit
Shahar Alon, Daniel Goodwin, Ed Boyden
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