Engineering RNA export for measurement and manipulation of living cells
F Horns, JA Martinez, C Fan, M Haque, JM Linton, V Tobin, L Santat, AO Maggiolo, PJ Bjorkman, C Lois, MB Elowitz
Living cells change over time. These cellular dynamics underpin health and disease, but remain mostly hidden from us and hard to understand. We are developing and applying new approaches to track cellular dynamics and resolve how cells and tissues change. These approaches leverage synthetic biological devices, deep sequencing, and single-cell and spatial multi-omics to reveal the dynamics of cell populations, states, and interactions. We ultimately seek to uncover the principles of how cells and tissues operate in development, homeostasis, and disease.
Extracellular vesicles mediate cell-cell communication and are a promising vehicle for drug delivery. However, the mechanisms that govern interactions between vesicles, cells, and tissues are poorly defined. We are using systematic approaches to reveal these mechanisms, including deciphering the molecular logic of vesicle biogenesis, trafficking, uptake, and cargo delivery. We aim to leverage this understanding to improve vesicle-based biotechnologies and drug delivery.
F Horns, JA Martinez, C Fan, M Haque, JM Linton, V Tobin, L Santat, AO Maggiolo, PJ Bjorkman, C Lois, MB Elowitz
F Horns, CL Dekker, SR Quake
H Li*, F Horns*, B Wu, Q Xie, J Li, T Li, DJ Luginbuhl, SR Quake, L Luo (* denotes equal contribution)
Felix Horns is an Assistant Professor of Genetics at Stanford University. The Horns group works at the interface of synthetic biology and genomics to develop and apply technologies for monitoring and manipulating cells, with particular focus on the immune system and the brain. Felix received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Stanford and performed postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology. His research has been recognized by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface, the Chen Foundation fellowship, and the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation fellowship.