Thermo Fisher, Chan Zuckerberg Institute partner to advance cellular imaging

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that it has entered into a technology alliance agreement with the Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biological Imaging (CZ Imaging Institute) to develop technologies that allow researchers to better visualize human cells that could advance scientific research and discovery.

In a statement, Thermo Fisher Scientific explained that cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a necessary tool in disease research and in creating lifesaving therapeutics that include vaccine development.

“As the technique continues to evolve, so does the demand for enhanced contrast and higher resolution to see cellular structures in their native environments,” the statement said.

Furthermore, Thermo Fisher Scientific and CZ Imaging Institute teams will build upon current partnerships with teams at the University of California Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where the continuous laser phase plate for electron microscopy was invented and continues to be developed.

Thermo Fisher will work alongside the CZ Imaging Institute to develop laser phase plate technology for cryo-EM further, improving cellular biology imaging at high resolution while collaborating with Berkeley Lab.

The project is considered a building block toward the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s work aimed at solving grand scientific challenges, such as developing state-of-the-art imaging systems to observe human cells in extraordinary detail.

“Broadening our understanding of basic cellular biology has the potential to unlock new layers of scientific research and therapeutic development, empowering researchers across the globe to uncover new insights in their labs,” Trisha Rice, vice president and general manager of life sciences for the electron microscopy business of Thermo Fisher Scientific, said in a statement.

“As we work to help our customers achieve their research goals, we are excited to collaborate with the CZ Imaging Institute to create new approaches in analytical science that aid future discovery.”

Matthias Haury, CZ Imaging Institute’s acting executive director and chief operating officer, explained that at the Imaging Institute, the focus is on innovating breakthrough imaging technologies that will enable scientists to see and measure what is currently invisible within our cells and gain deeper insights into the biological mechanisms of human health and disease.

“We want to advance not only the experimental side of imaging science but also deliver solutions to the community and technology alliances with industry partners like Thermo Fisher allow the Imaging Institute to accelerate and scale technology development and share these advances with the scientists across the world more rapidly,” Haury said in a statement.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) also announced that CZ Biohub San Francisco and CZ Institute for Advanced Biological Imaging will join forces to form a new Biohub.

The collaboration between the two institutes seeks to combine their teams at a new science campus in Redwood City, California, next to CZI headquarters.

Scott Fraser, CZI’s vice president of science grant programs, has been named president of the Chan Zuckerberg Imaging Institute, effective April 1.

According to CZI, the vision for the new Biohub is to develop “novel imaging systems to illuminate the dynamic architecture of living systems, making what was invisible visible, measurable and understandable.”

“These institutes are leveraging their complementary strengths at a critical moment in biological discovery, when the right combination of technological and scientific expertise can create novel tools to illuminate hidden dynamics of complex systems, like the brain and immune system, to fully understand how they function,” Priscilla Chan, cofounder and co-CEO of CZI, said in a statement.

Launched in 2016, the San Francisco Biohub was charged with a 10-year commitment to address some of the most important questions in science.

“Since its inception, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has made bold, long-term investments in scientific research and technology to advance understanding of human biology,” Joe DeRisi, president of the CZ Biohub San Francisco, said in a statement.

“Having the San Francisco Biohub and the Imaging Institute join together for this grand challenge is a natural fit and is an example of CZI continuing to make big bets in science.”

THE LARGER TREND

Thermo Fisher Scientific launched the CorEvitas Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Registry in February.

The multi-center, prospective registry leverages the CorEvitas rheumatology physician network. It looks at a critical unmet need for collecting strong, objective, real-world data about SLE in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue and can cause damage to patients’ skin, joints, blood and internal organs, including the kidneys, heart, brain and lungs.

The registry leverages clinician and patient insights to address vital questions about the safety and effectiveness of current and future treatments for SLE.

That same month, CZI launched the Billion Cells Project, an initiative to generate a one billion cell dataset to fuel rapid progress in AI model development in biology.

CZI embarked on the initiative in collaboration with partners 10x Genomics, Ultima Genomics and a group of researchers.

Upon completion, the single-cell dataset will bring critical new data and resolution to multiple domains of biology that require extensive resources, including mapping genetic perturbations across diverse cell types and tissues.

In 2020, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pledged $13.6 million to a research collaboration that included UC San Francisco, Stanford University and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

The funds were used to understand the scope of the coronavirus in the area and then give the data to policymakers and healthcare workers in the region looking at whether the antibodies from COVID-19 protect them from reinfection.