The Allen Institute introduces cell landscapes to map cellular collaboration

The Allen Institute introduces cell landscapes to map cellular collaboration

The Allen Institute today announced the launch of Cellscapes, a bold new research initiative aimed at revolutionizing how scientists understand and predict the behavior of human cells as they work together to build tissues and organs. The goal: uncovering the rules and principles of how cells work together to make decisions in the body and giving scientists the tools to predict and even design how cells behave together in health and disease.

Cellscapes introduces a groundbreaking approach that combines cutting-edge imaging and powerful computer models to track how cells change, communicate and organize.

Cells do not work alone. They are constantly shifting and working together in ways we are only just beginning to deeply understand. At Cellscapes we move beyond the static snapshots of biology and toward a vivid, dynamic picture of how cells lead life. “

Ru Gunawardane, Ph.D., executive director and vice president of the Allen Institute for Cell Science

Cellscapes describe these changes in mathematical terms to enable researchers to test, model and predict cell behavior with unprecedented clarity. These critical insights provide new ways to measure and image cells that redefine how they are studied.

"It's very similar to astronomy, going from 'What planet is this point in the sky' to 'What are the laws of motion that describe all moving objects?'" says Wallace Marshall, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco and an adviser to the new initiative. "Once we can describe the cell mathematically and the behavior at a higher level and add the laws of motion like the Allen Institute has, it will change the type of question cell biologists ask."

Unlike traditional methods that focus on the molecules that make up cells or snapshot observations over time, cellscapes will reveal how cells change as dynamic systems that change over time, respond to their environment, and work together to build complex cellular communities.

By combining cell biology, technology and synthetic design, the team aims to program so-called “synthoid” pustoma building communities of cells whose behavior can be manipulated to test how cells make decisions and organize themselves into tissues.

Our scientists' pioneering research and expertise, particularly in the area of ​​3D cell organization—and our deep commitment to open science positions the Allen Institute at the forefront of holistic understanding of cell behavior. Cellscapes is a frontier moonshot with the potential to shift the paradigm in cell biology. “

Rui Costa, DVM, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Allen Institute

Cellscapes include openly available tools, data, and visualizations for researchers, educators, and students worldwide that can pave the way for breakthroughs in regenerative medicine, cancer research, and personalized therapies.

“In Cellscapes, we move from snapshots to storylines, discovering rules that govern how cells make decisions, transition states and form tissues,” Gunawardane said. "This is the future of cell biology. We are not just observing what life does when we begin to understand how and why it works."

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