Recently, led by Chinese scientists, 6 countries and 32 scientific research teams jointly participated in the completion of the world's first batch of life space-time maps. For the first time, the scientists mapped the temporal and spatial mapping of embryonic development or organs of four model organisms, mice, zebrafish, fruit flies, and Arabidopsis thaliana, and published online in the journal Cell and its sub-journal Developmental Cell. The research has passed the ethical review and strictly follows the corresponding regulations and ethical guidelines.
According to reports, the researchers used the spatio-temporal omics technology Stereo-seq, which can be called the "ultra-wide-angle ten-billion pixel life camera", and at the same time "photographed" the genetic information and spatial position of each cell in the tissue, using a chip resolution of up to 500 nanometers. On the 9.5-16.5 days of mouse embryonic organ formation, the researchers "took" multiple "photos" every day, and obtained 53 "photos" of 8 periods to form a spatio-temporal map of embryonic development, recording the development of organs in mouse embryos and the formation of cells. The world's first systematic and clear atlas of cross-time spatial gene expression in mouse organs was constructed, which provides an important data reference for mammalian development studies and guidance for research related to birth defects.
△ Spatio-temporal atlas of mouse embryos at days 9.5-16.5
According to Chen Ao, the first author of the "Cell" paper and the chief scientist of spatiotemporal omics of Shenzhen Huada Life Science Research Institute, space-time omics technology allows us to observe the distribution of molecules and cells and the interaction between cells in normal and disease states under the resolution of cells and even subcellular resolution, and truly realize the understanding of function from the perspective of high-precision structure, which will greatly promote our comprehensive understanding of the complexity of life and human diseases.
△ High-precision panoramic cell resolution mouse embryo map
In order to promote the wide application of spatiotemomics in various fields of life sciences, BGI Life Sciences Research Institute and other institutions have launched the SpatiotemOmics Alliance, which is composed of more than 80 scientists from 16 countries, including Harvard University, Cambridge University, and Oxford University. This thematic outcome is the first major outcome produced by the Alliance. According to Xu Xun, co-corresponding author of the series of papers and president of the Shenzhen Huada Institute of Life Sciences, "through the space-time omics alliance, we will work with scientists in various fields in the future to promote the comprehensive development of organ mapping, disease pathology, ontogenesis and life evolution."
(CCTV reporter Zheng Weiwei)
Source: CCTV news client