Welcome to Fall!

There is a lot happening at the Hub. Be sure to check out upcoming genomics seminars, the November 12 spatial transcriptomic workshop with Ivan Chang, PhD, and Jenny Wu, PhD, and tech seminars. The week of November 4, we will be presenting a short talk and poster at the  Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Retreat. This is a good chance to chat with Melanie, Jenny, Ivan and myself one on one.  If you know of someone with molecular laboratory experience who would like to gain some valuable experience over the period of 1-2 years, have them apply to our lab assistant or specialist positions (linked on the home page). Suggestions for workshops and  seminar speakers are welcome! Please contact me at sbsandme@hs.uci.edu with your suggestions.

The website continues to be updated: we have introduced our Advisory Board members on their own tab and have a new link on the homepage for you to submit suggestions to myself and the staff.

In the sequencing arena, we have the PacBio Revio long-read sequencer which is in use for applications such as whole genome sequencing, haplophasing and single cell isoform detection.  The more recently arrived Illumina NovaSeq X Plus reduces the price and turnaround time of short read sequencing.   Importantly for our users, the increased sequencing capacity will increase the information from single cell studies, based on the number of single cells and the depth of sequencing per run.

There are also a few totally new spatial instruments to support your spatial omics research. 10X Genomics continues to roll out spatial tools including Visium HD (close to single cell), spatial applications for clinical histology slides, and of course the new (non-destructive Xenium) with segmentation staining kits, subcellular RNA detection, and follow-on protein immunofluorescence or Visium discovery! Thanks to the efforts of Tallie Z Baram, MD PhD and Al La Spada, MD PhD and MSTP student Madi Tetzlaff, and several of your own units, funds have been raised for the purchase of a  MERSCOPE to enable spatial transcriptomics on a different platform. Processing actually expands the tissue and removes proteins, leaving a particularly clear view of up to 10,000 transcripts. Laboratories were invited to train and try out the technology which will ultimately be walk up usage. Watch this page for discounts, training, and time on the instrument.

We look forward to working with Rui Chen to offer Stellaromics Inc 3D Spatial in 2025.

In 2025 we are planning a spatial transcriptomics symposium which, per the survey at the end of the last symposium, will focus on bioinformatics tools for spatial analysis. Follow us on this website, genomics.uci.edu, for our latest news!

Suzanne Sandmeyer, PhD, GRT Hub Director