The new technology unlocks cellular origin with DNA bar codes

A breakthrough study by IHI scientists shed new light on one of the most fundamental secrets of biology: how cells divide and grow into complex structures forming our bodies.

The study created a sophisticated and leading new cell tracking technology very early during the development of the embryo, when they divide, migrate and specialize in organs, tissues and systems that keep us alive.

Innovative technology, called Loxcode, provides each cell in a genetically modified mouse one of the billions of individual DNA bar codes, enabling them to track unprecedented details.

Published in research, they open new borders for scientists around the world to better understand how we develop, cure and fight infections.

At first glance

• Scientists have developed a new, sophisticated way to track cells a few days after conception and tracking their lines while sharing and growing to create tissues, organs and systems of our bodies.

• Loxcode technology developed by the Wehi team uses a process such as shuffling a deck of cards, but at DNA level, to create billions of individual barcodes that allow detailed cell tracking, never before.

• Innovative technology is already used by scientists around the world.

Life plan appears earlier than previously thought

It is amazing to think about whether every person begins with one founding cell, called zygote.

Specialized cells are created from this one founder, building everything, from our skin and brain to our blood and bones. Exactly the way the cells decide what to become – and how they are related – has long been a scientific secret.

Determining what cells will happen is important not only for understanding normal development, but also to identify when and why something goes wrong, which leads to diseases and disorders.

The main researcher Professor Shalin Nik said that the new technology, which is already used in many laboratories around the world, allows scientists to track the final use of cells very early during the development of the embryo.

“When life is a ball of only a few hundred cells, we discovered that some cells can individually cause each tissue in the body, while others were to become a kind of tissue, such as the brain, intestines, limbs or blood,” said prof. Naik, wehs laboratory head.

“I am most excited about an explosion of research that Loxcode allows – you don’t create a tool every day that is widely used and has the power to transform how our bodies work at the deepest level.”

The main author and inventor of Loxcode, Dr. Tom Weber, said that technology is like shuffling and distribution of the deck of cards, but at DNA level.

From Loxcode, each cell is issued with a unique hand that is inherited by its descendants who form the body. This creates a tracked bar code, which allows us to look into this fundamental process with unprecedented details. “

Dr. Tom Weber, the main author of the science and inventor Loxcode

In the direction of better treatment by analyzing cellular proverbs

By enabling cells to be reached back to ancestors, Loxcode indicates a future where you can discover the early roots of developmental disorders.

As part of the study, the research team has developed a genetically modified mouse model, which enables code code and cell analysis using easily available DNA sequencing technology.

Loxcode will be changing in biomedical and developmental research, which will be able to generate up to 30 billion random barriers of DNA on demand in the tissues of live mice – tens of thousands of times more than existing technologies.

Numerous projects around the world are currently using this model to examine a wide range of research questions from brain development and immune cell behavior, after organs grow and the tissues regenerate after stroke.

Dr. Weber used his knowledge of physics, synthetic biology and mathematics to optimize the Loxcode sequence design, which creates a variety of over 30 billion barcodes from just 13 small pieces of DNA.

“Loxcode code is basically a test of DNA ancestors for each cell, in every mouse tissue that allows researchers to examine and solve some of the greatest secrets of life,” he said.