Goals

In its second phase, the KCO is building on the success of its first five years by expanding its approach to include the analysis of tissues. In particular, “KCO 2.0” aims to crack open the study of entire tissue ecosystems by developing and demonstrating powerful computational and experimental methods to:

  • Invent, develop, scale, and adopt key technologies to:

    • Observe cell interactions in their native tissue settings, such as measurements of genomic profiles in situ in animal models, organoids, and patient samples;

    • Conduct massively parallel combinatorial perturbations to precisely manipulate cells, their molecular components, their microenvironments, and their interactions, at multiple places at the same time in vivo; and

    • Develop inference algorithms that combine “machine vision” and learning of molecular interactions to (a) infer the connections between internal and external wiring, and (b) develop models to predict how the function and composition of cells in a tissue would change to meet its functional needs. We do this by changing the composition of other cells, external signals, and genetic changes, especially those associated with human disease.

  • Dissect the ecosystem of key selected tissue circuits.

  • Participate in collaborations to help disseminate the KCO technology platforms and nucleate new efforts and directions, as remarkable opportunities arise.