Boqiang Tu (LU & ESVELT LABS)

Molecular Recording Enables High-throughput Measurement of Biomolecular Activities

Methods of measuring the activities of biomolecules are fundamental to the study and engineering of biological systems. Fluorescence- or luminescence-based reporter assays are limited in their throughput, accuracy and dynamic range. Here we use a single long-read sequencing step to retrieve both sequence identity and biomolecular activity of each variant in a pooled library, by coupling the activity of interest to the targeted mutagenesis of a DNA sequence physically linked to the coding sequence of each variant. Our technique can potentially replace reporter-based flow cytometry activity assays and generate large datasets for mapping molecular fitness landscapes.

Nicholas Hutchins (BLAINEY & LI LABS)

Exploring the Synthetic Signaling Space of Cell Fate Decision

During development, different combinations of signaling events, simultaneously or sequentially, drive stem cells into distinct fates. Even with simplifying assumptions, the space of possible combinatorial signaling events remains far larger than the number of cell types or cell states observed naturally. We will explore the consequences of synthetic combinations of natural signaling pathways as ways to access new cell states or alternate paths to known fates.