From CNRS News
Single-cell technologies for the analysis of genomic data enable scientists to better study tissue mechanisms and heterogeneity at the scale of a cell. They also generate masses of wide-ranging data that takes cell biology into a new era.
At the Institut Curie, a tumour specimen circulates from floor to floor. First collected from a patient by a physician in the basement, it then moves up to the pathology department to be prepared for study. It is analysed, cell by cell, using a revolutionary “single-cell” technology, before going up another floor for sequencing. Finally, the bioinformatics specialists clean the dataset produced by the sequencer and apply statistical methods to enable its study. The aim is to understand why a tumour has emerged and is resistant to treatment. Within a few months, the living specimen has become a body of data.
“Single-cell methods have accelerated biology 2.0, and our work is now based on a multidisciplinary ballet from the physician to the biologist, the data analyst and statistician. It is only through the participation of all these specialists that the whole system works”, explains Céline Vallot, CNRS research professor at the Institut Curie1 and specialist in the epigenetic mechanisms of breast cancer.
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