Project
Novel droplet-microfluidic solutions for single-cell multiomics.
In the past decades, scientists have studied the genetics of tissues
and organs by taking a tissue sample, breaking all the cells open and
analysing the resulting mix. This approach leads to an averaged-out
signal from all cells in the sample, causing rare cell types to go
unnoticed. Today, it has become more and more evident that these
lost rare cells can play a key role in organ functioning, disease and
development. Luckily, several “single-cell” technologies have recently
emerged, allowing us to analyse every single cell in a sample by its
own. In these techniques, thousands of cells are encapsulated into
tiny water droplets in oil. When the cells are now broken, their
content remains separate from the other cells, and analysis can
occur cell-by-cell. These detailed analyses have caused a revolution
in biology, helping us understand the relationship between genetics,
disease and development. At Aertslab, we are at the frontiers of this
single-cell revolution. My PhD focuses on the development of a new
droplet-based analysis technique which can extract multiple layers of
information from the same cell, something that can only be done at a
very slow pace today. Analysing thousands of cancer or brain cells
using this technique could help us understand the genetic regulation
behind these cells – and where it goes wrong. Solving this complex
and important question will lead to many opportunities for advanced
and personalised medicine.