Single-Cell Biology

Single-cell biology is the application of technologies that enable multi-omics investigation at the level of the building block of life, a single cell. By accelerating the development and application of single-cell tools and technologies, we can better understand how disease manifests in the body’s cells and tissues.

Single-cell biology is relevant to all cells in all tissues, and the field is generating data at a nearly unprecedented rate. Developing new analytical methods can help the scientific community store, analyze, and explore these rich data types.

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 single-cell biology program has funded the following RFAs:

Single-Cell Technology

CZI’s Single-Cell Biology team builds tools to support and accelerate the work of biologists who are uncovering new insights about healthy and diseased cells using single-cell methods. 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 allows scientists to collaboratively analyze and annotate single-cell data via web browser. The tool can be downloaded on any laptop or desktop device. Learn more here.

CZI’s Support for the Human Cell Atlas

How can we cure, prevent, or manage all diseases? The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) is a global, scientist-led collaboration to map and characterize all cells in the healthy human body as a resource for scientific studies of health and disease. We contribute to the HCA in several ways, including supporting development of a data coordination platform, building computational tools, and grantmaking that enables methods development and data generation. Learn more about the Human Cell Atlas.

Immune cells and microbes interacting across the fragile, one-cell thick gut lining of a fruit fly (CZI Single-Cell Biology).
New technology lets scientists peer inside living fruit flies, allowing them to watch immune cells and gut microbes interact across the gut's fragile, one-cell thick lining. Photo provided by Lucy Erin O'Brien, Stanford University.
New technology lets scientists peer inside living fruit flies, allowing them to watch immune cells and gut microbes interact across the gut's fragile, one-cell thick lining. Photo provided by Lucy Erin O'Brien, Stanford University.

Inflammation

Inflammation is a natural defense that helps our bodies maintain a healthy state, but chronic inflammation results in harmful diseases like asthma, arthritis, and heart disease. We fund scientists to study the role of inflammation in maintaining health and triggering diseases so that we can better diagnose, treat, and manage them.

Stylized "Learn About Our Grantees" icon of two interconnected figures beneath a diagonal ascending arrow (CZI Single-Cell Biology).

Learn About Our Grantees

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Single-Cell Biology 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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