Cell Science

The CZI Cell Science program (formerly the Single-Cell Biology program) supports and enables the generation and application of technologies for the engineering and research of complex cellular systems. Despite an ever-increasing knowledge of cell types and states, the vast majority of primary cells remain remarkably difficult to culture and experiment with. The Cell Science program seeks to change this by building on their established interdisciplinary collaborations to derive molecular definitions of cells and dig deeper into their biology. At its core, the program is focused on scalable technology that enables deeper insight into cells in health and disease states via experimentation and modeling.

An immunofluorescence image of the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum (CZI Single-Cell Biology).
An immunofluorescence image of the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum. Photo provided by Emma Lundberg, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
An immunofluorescence image of the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum. Photo provided by Emma Lundberg, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
The Cell Science program has funded the following RFAs:

Single-Cell Technology

We build tools to support and accelerate the work of biologists who are uncovering new insights about healthy and diseased cells. Our platform, Chan Zuckerberg CELL by GENE (CZ CELLxGENE), allows scientists to access, analyze, and annotate high-dimensional single-cell data at scale, so they can inform their experiments or quickly surface new insights that could lead to discoveries in treating disease. Learn more at czcellxgene.org and read our pre-print.

CZ CELL×GENE Discover

CZ CELLxGENE Discover provides scientists with fast, easy access to the largest collection of standardized single-cell data — 50+ million cells and growing. Scientists can access the data in different ways based on their research needs:

Census

Access any custom slice of standardized cell data available on CZ CELLxGENE Discover via R and Python.

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CellGuide

Explore an interactive encyclopedia of 700+ cell types that provides detailed definitions, marker genes, lineage, and relevant datasets in one place.

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Gene Expression

Uncover expression levels of any gene across datasets of cell types and tissues with advanced visualization tools.

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CZ CELL×GENE Annotate

CZ CELLxGENE Annotate is a self-hosting interactive data explorer for single-cell datasets. Our desktop tool is a powerful interface that allows you to annotate, analyze, and explore your own single-cell data. Learn more here.

Cellular Measurement

Advancements in technology offer an unprecedented potential to profile and visualize cells, RNA, proteins, and metabolites. This work aims to generate comprehensive data references spanning modalities, ancestries, and developmental stages that can be used to rapidly understand the molecular mechanisms that define cells.

Prediction Engines

There remain many opportunities to use and reuse single-cell data to more deeply interrogate cellular mechanisms and disease. This work aims to equip leading-edge computational scientists with large data resources and unlock untapped power to describe cellular function.

Perturbation and Validation

Perturbation and manipulation of complex cellular systems are critical to extending and validating inferences made by current cell atlases. This work focuses on the development of new technologies that enable scientists to perturb cells and systems at scale across organisms, modalities, and diseases.

Cell Engineering

This work moves beyond functional interrogation and extends into engineering cell identity, fate, or behavior using synthetic biology, with the goal of validating our molecular knowledge of cells.

Cell Science Team

Advisory Board

Titus Brown, University of California, Davis (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Titus Brown University of California, Davis
Cherie Butts, Biogen (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Cherie Butts Biogen
Vivian Cheung, University of Michigan (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Vivian Cheung University of Michigan
Keolu Fox, University of California, San Diego (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Keolu Fox University of California, San Diego
Melody S. Goodman, New York University (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Melody S. Goodman New York University
Latifa Jackson, Howard University (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Latifa Jackson Howard University
Molly Maleckar, Simula Research Laboratory (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Molly Maleckar Simula Research Laboratory
Jay Shendure, University of Washington, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Jay Shendure University of Washington, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Nelson Spruston, HHMI Janelia Research Campus (Advisory Board, CZI Single-Cell Biology).
Nelson Spruston HHMI Janelia Research Campus
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