Abstract

Intelligent Image-Activated Cell Sorting

Keisuke Goda, Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Tokyo

A fundamental challenge of biology is to understand the vast heterogeneity of cells, particularly how cellular composition, structure, and morphology are linked to cellular physiology. Unfortunately, conventional technologies such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting are limited in uncovering these relations. In this talk, I introduce our machine intelligence technology known as “Intelligent Image-Activated Cell Sorting” [Cell 175, 1 (2018)] that builds on a radically different architecture that realizes real-time image-based intelligent cell sorting at an unprecedented rate. This technology integrates high-throughput cell microscopy, focusing, and sorting on a hybrid software-hardware data-management infrastructure, enabling real-time automated operation for data acquisition, data processing, decision-making, and actuation. I show the application of the technology to real-time image-activated sorting of microalgal and blood cells based on intracellular protein localization and cell-cell interaction from large heterogeneous populations for studying photosynthesis and atherothrombosis, respectively. The technology is highly versatile and expected to enable machine-based scientific discovery in biological, pharmaceutical, and medical sciences including cell therapy.