California, USA (CU)_ Washington State University researchers may now more readily investigate how cells communicate with one another using this novel technology. This was made possible with $500,000 funds in donations from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The money will be used to buy the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler, a novel technology that enables scientists to gain a deeper understanding of direct cell-to-cell communication using a technique called spatial omics.
Jon Oatley, assistant dean of research at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, explained, “These platforms allow us to look at the expression of genes in cells in their spatial context as they exist in a tissue in the body”. According to Oatley, by selecting a cell and determining what it produces and how it may influence the cells nearby, researchers may develop an atlas and deduce how cells interact within the tissue.
The new technology is placed in the Laboratory for Biotechnology and Bioanalysis, which is located in the Biotechnology and Life Sciences Building. It was installed in mid-February by Seattle-based NanoString. He explained, “With this new technology, we can build a deep understanding of how cell-to-cell communication happens to carry out the process of entire organs”.
During the last two decades, with the aid of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, the Center for Reproductive Biology and the Laboratory for Biotechnology and Bioanalysis have matured into advanced service facilities on the WSU Pullman campus. While the trust gave the money to the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, the remaining $85,000 was distributed to other WSU researchers throughout the biological sciences to help establish a user base for the technology. Additionally, NanoString awarded WSU with $15,000 for reagent kits.
According to Oatley, the money should help guarantee that the equipment is properly utilized. Oatley filed for the grant and the additional funds for WSU academics. He said, “With this additional funding we could get eight faculty working on research projects with $10,000 to each”. He also stated that higher sums may be allocated to fewer initiatives.
According to their website, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust was established by the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock and it provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest that work to boost the educational, social, spiritual, and cultural foundations of the region in innovative and sustainable ways. Since 2011, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has endowed the WSU Foundation with over $7 million.
