Panoramic Atlases of Life Published in Cell Mark Establishment of SpatioTemporal Omics Consortium
PR95822
SHENZHEN, China, May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--
STOC launches with more than 80 scientists joining globally, focused on
obtaining the greatest scientific benefits from spatially resolved
transcriptomics technology; first studies use BGI-Research's Stereo-seq to
produce spatiotemporal cellular maps of mice, Drosophila, zebrafish, and
Arabidopsis
Scientists from 16 countries today announced the establishment of the
SpatioTemporal Omics Consortium (STOC), an open scientific community focused on
using spatially resolved cellular resolution omics technology to map and
understand life. Their first studies resulted in state-of-the-art panoramic
spatial atlases of life, published in Cell and Developmental Cell on May 4.
Over 80 scientists from Harvard University, Oxford University, MIT, University
of Cambridge, the Karolinska Institutet, the University of Western Australia,
the Genome Institute of Singapore, BGI-Research, among others, are
collaborating as part of STOC. Members of the research group who produced the
panoramic atlases used a new enabling technology Stereo-seq, developed by
BGI-Research, to produce the most insightful spatiotemporal cellular maps to
date of mice, small fruit flies (Drosophila), zebrafish, and the Arabidopsis
plant, making a breakthrough in resolution and panoramic field of view and
enabling analysis of the distribution and placement of molecules and cells in
situ, and over time.
Identifying the characteristics of specific cells within a tissue has
significant applications for understanding physiology, how organisms develop,
and which cells are causes or indicators of disease, potentially leading to
future gains in human disease research. These lay an important foundation for
STOC's research initiatives, which aim to create diverse sets of spatiotemporal
atlases to broaden our knowledge of disease treatment, organ structures,
development and aging, and to improve our understanding of biological evolution.
"In the last few years, there has been a lot of progress of mapping the genome
and transcriptome in single cells. But this has been without the context of the
spatial aspect of neighbourhoods of cells, ecosystem of cells, and therefore
there is a whole layer of information that has been missing, which I think will
now become accessible. That will have a major impact on both basic and
translational research," says Berthold Göttgens, Director of the Wellcome-MRC
Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, and a Member of STOC.
The transformational aspects of spatiotemporal omics for scientific research
are captured in the goals of the STOC, as Weibin Liu, STOC Organizing Committee
Member, explains.
"The panoramic atlases published late yesterday are the first steps toward the
Consortium's vision of revolutionizing humanity's understanding of mind and
body, youth and old age, health and illness, the origin and future of the human
race, and the rest of the living world, for that matter," says Liu. "They lay
the groundwork for multiple atlases the Consortium could complete together, and
they validate approaches for creating other spatiotemporal atlases."
"Because of the magnitude of such endeavors, they require nothing short of a
concerted global effort, across multiple disciplines from science to
engineering to mathematics, and across diverse stakeholders from medicine to
industry to funders. Together with our 80+ members so far, we will work to
chart the way forward, to build new tools and competencies, to share resources
and results, to map and solve the unknown," he adds
The SpatioTemporal Omics Consortium (STOC) is an open, collaborative research
initiative established to unite, organize, advance and share global scientific
efforts in spatiotemporal omics to solve the mysteries of life. More
information about STOC can be found at www.sto-consortium.org.
SOURCE: STOC
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