Multimodal unmixing for massively parallelised multichannel microscopy

Supervisors:

Professor Ilan Davis, College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Sciences / School of Molecular Biosciences

Professor Massimo Vassalli, College of Science and Engineering / James Watt School of Engineering

Doctor Richard Bowman, College of Science and Engineering / James Watt School of Engineering

 

PhD Project Summary:

Curing diseases and improving human health relies on our understanding of how genes are expressed and regulated at the level of the genome. Spatial biology aims to determine the three-dimensional position and orientation of proteins and mRNA, amongst other biomolecules, which are a crucial indicator of their activity and interaction. However, most of the standard ways to measure the presence and abundance of mRNAs and proteins are unable to provide an adequate subcellular location for each molecule at scale and rapidly.

This project will involve the development of novel tools and techniques for the detection of thousands of unique mRNA species, using advanced spectral unmixing and other forms of microscopy, empowered by machine-learning methods and mathematical models. These technical developments will then be applied to the Drosophila brain and nervous system, as well as other biological samples.