Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Launches Billion Cells Project with 10x Genomics and Ultima Genomics to Advance AI in Biology
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has launched the Billion Cells Project, collaborating with 10x Genomics and Ultima Genomics to create an unprecedented one billion cell dataset for advancing AI in biology. The project aims to enhance understanding of cellular behavior and gene function through large-scale data generation.
The initiative will utilize 10x Genomics' Chromium GEM-X technology for single-cell analysis and Ultima Genomics' UG 100™ platform for high-throughput sequencing. The dataset will include organisms such as mouse, zebrafish, and primary human cell models, focusing on gene regulation and function across organisms.
CZI plans to make all results open source and freely available to scientists worldwide. The project will leverage CZI's computing system, one of the largest dedicated to nonprofit life sciences research, to train new virtual cell models and derive insights from the vast dataset.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) ha lanciato il Billion Cells Project, collaborando con 10x Genomics e Ultima Genomics per creare un dataset senza precedenti di un miliardo di cellule per avanzare l'IA nella biologia. Il progetto mira a migliorare la comprensione del comportamento cellulare e della funzione genica attraverso la generazione di dati su larga scala.
L'iniziativa utilizzerà la tecnologia Chromium GEM-X di 10x Genomics per l'analisi delle singole cellule e la piattaforma UG 100™ di Ultima Genomics per il sequenziamento ad alta capacità. Il dataset comprenderà organismi come topi, pesci zebra e modelli cellulari umani primari, con un focus sulla regolazione e funzione genica attraverso gli organismi.
CZI prevede di rendere tutti i risultati open source e liberamente disponibili agli scienziati di tutto il mondo. Il progetto sfrutterà il sistema di calcolo di CZI, uno dei più grandi dedicati alla ricerca nelle scienze della vita no profit, per addestrare nuovi modelli cellulari virtuali e trarre intuizioni dal vasto dataset.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) ha lanzado el Billion Cells Project, colaborando con 10x Genomics y Ultima Genomics para crear un conjunto de datos sin precedentes de mil millones de células para avanzar en la IA en biología. El proyecto tiene como objetivo mejorar la comprensión del comportamiento celular y la función génica a través de la generación de datos a gran escala.
La iniciativa utilizará la tecnología Chromium GEM-X de 10x Genomics para el análisis de células individuales y la plataforma UG 100™ de Ultima Genomics para el secuenciado de alto rendimiento. El conjunto de datos incluirá organismos como ratones, peces cebra y modelos celulares humanos primarios, centrándose en la regulación y función génica entre organismos.
CZI planea hacer todos los resultados de código abierto y libremente accesibles para científicos de todo el mundo. El proyecto aprovechará el sistema de computación de CZI, uno de los más grandes dedicados a la investigación en ciencias de la vida sin fines de lucro, para entrenar nuevos modelos celulares virtuales y obtener información del vasto conjunto de datos.
찬 주커버그 재단 (CZI)가 10x 제노믹스 및 울티마 제노믹스와 협력하여 생물학의 AI 발전을 위한 전례 없는 10억 세포 데이터세트를 생성하는 10억 세포 프로젝트를 출시했습니다. 이 프로젝트는 대규모 데이터 생성을 통해 세포 행동과 유전자 기능에 대한 이해를 향상시키는 것을 목표로 합니다.
이 이니셔티브는 10x 제노믹스의 크로뮴 GEM-X 기술를 단일 세포 분석에, 울티마 제노믹스의 UG 100™ 플랫폼을 고처리량 시퀀싱에 활용할 예정입니다. 데이터세트는 쥐, 지느러미 물고기, 초기 인간 세포 모델과 같은 생물체를 포함하여 생물체 간의 유전자 조절 및 기능에 초점을 맞출 것입니다.
CZI는 모든 결과를 오픈 소스 형태로 제공하고 전 세계 과학자들이 무료로 이용할 수 있도록 할 계획입니다. 이 프로젝트는 CZI의 컴퓨팅 시스템을 활용하여 새로운 가상 세포 모델을 훈련시키고 방대한 데이터세트에서 통찰을 도출할 것입니다.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) a lancé le Billion Cells Project, en collaboration avec 10x Genomics et Ultima Genomics, pour créer un ensemble de données sans précédent d'un milliard de cellules pour faire avancer l'IA en biologie. Le projet vise à améliorer la compréhension du comportement cellulaire et de la fonction des gènes grâce à la génération de données à grande échelle.
L'initiative utilisera la technologie Chromium GEM-X de 10x Genomics pour l'analyse des cellules uniques et la plateforme UG 100™ d'Ultima Genomics pour le séquençage à haut débit. L'ensemble de données comprendra des organismes tels que des souris, des poissons-zèbres et des modèles cellulaires humains primaires, en mettant l'accent sur la régulation et la fonction des gènes à travers les organismes.
CZI prévoit de rendre tous les résultats open source et librement accessibles aux scientifiques du monde entier. Le projet s'appuiera sur le système informatique de CZI, l'un des plus grands dédiés à la recherche en sciences de la vie à but non lucratif, pour former de nouveaux modèles cellulaires virtuels et en tirer des insights à partir du vaste ensemble de données.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) hat das Billion Cells Project ins Leben gerufen, in Zusammenarbeit mit 10x Genomics und Ultima Genomics, um einen beispiellosen Datensatz von einer Milliarde Zellen zur Förderung von KI in der Biologie zu erstellen. Das Projekt hat zum Ziel, das Verständnis des Zellverhaltens und der Genfunktion durch die Generierung großangelegter Daten zu verbessern.
Die Initiative nutzt die Chromium GEM-X Technologie von 10x Genomics für die Einzelzell-Analyse und die UG 100™ Plattform von Ultima Genomics für das Hochdurchsatz-Sequenzieren. Der Datensatz wird Organismen wie Mäuse, Zebrafische und primäre menschliche Zellmodelle umfassen, wobei der Fokus auf der Genregulation und Funktion zwischen Organismen liegt.
CZI plant, alle Ergebnisse als Open Source verfügbar zu machen und Wissenschaftlern auf der ganzen Welt kostenlos zur Verfügung zu stellen. Das Projekt wird Czis Computersystem nutzen, eines der größten Systeme für nicht gewinnorientierte biowissenschaftliche Forschung, um neue virtuelle Zellmodelle zu trainieren und Erkenntnisse aus dem umfangreichen Datensatz zu gewinnen.
- Partnership with major industry leaders (10x Genomics and Ultima Genomics) provides access to cutting-edge technologies
- Access to CZI's advanced computing system for AI model development
- Project results will be open source and freely available, potentially increasing adoption and collaboration
- None.
Insights
The launch of the Billion Cells Project marks a pivotal moment for 10x Genomics (TXG), positioning the company at the forefront of the rapidly expanding single-cell analysis market. This high-profile collaboration with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative presents multiple strategic advantages:
First, the selection of TXG's Chromium GEM-X technology validates its technical superiority in the competitive landscape. The technology's enhanced sensitivity and throughput capabilities directly address key market demands for scalability and cost-effectiveness in single-cell analysis. This positions TXG to capture a larger share of the growing market for high-throughput genomic analysis tools.
Second, the project's massive scale creates significant commercial opportunities. Beyond immediate revenue from technology deployment, the initiative will generate valuable real-world validation data for TXG's platforms. This data will be particularly compelling for attracting future pharmaceutical and research institution customers, potentially accelerating market adoption.
The open-source nature of the project could initially appear challenging for TXG's commercial interests. However, this approach actually creates a powerful network effect: as more researchers access and utilize the dataset, demand for TXG's compatible platforms and consumables should increase. This could establish TXG's technology as the de facto standard in single-cell analysis, creating a sustainable competitive advantage.
The project's focus on AI integration is particularly strategic. By ensuring their technology is central to generating AI-ready biological data, TXG is positioning itself at the intersection of two explosive growth areas: genomics and artificial intelligence. This convergence could drive premium pricing power and expand TXG's addressable market beyond traditional research institutions.
Landmark single-cell dataset of one billion cells will be used to train new AI models to advance researchers' understanding of cellular behavior and gene function
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. , Feb. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) launched the Billion Cells Project, an effort to generate an unprecedented one billion cell dataset to fuel rapid progress in AI model development in biology. CZI is embarking on this landmark initiative in collaboration with partners 10x Genomics, Ultima Genomics, and a group of leading researchers. Industry partners are enabling data generation at unprecedented scale by increasing access to cutting-edge technologies and lowering costs.
Once completed, this single-cell data set will bring critical new data and resolution to multiple domains of biology that need comprehensive resources such as mapping genetic perturbations across diverse cell types and tissues. Critically, the scale and cohesion of the data made possible by current and future contributions to the Billion Cells Project will deliver the volume of data with greater consistency than past efforts to better enable researchers to train AI models and make transformative discoveries across precision medicine and functional genomics.
"CZI's Billion Cells Project illustrates the power of collaboration to make previously unfathomable amounts of single-cell data available for researchers, which will help clarify our understanding of the fundamental biology underpinning human health and disease while supercharging efforts at the intersection of AI and biology," said Jonah Cool, Cell Science Senior Science Program Officer at CZI. "Biology not only needs more data – the field needs more data faster and in interoperable formats to support AI models that address specific problems, and this project represents a unique approach to scaling and standardizing scientific outputs for AI and more."
CZI is the only philanthropic organization to fund and build one of the largest computing systems dedicated to nonprofit life sciences research in the world. Data generated from the Billion Cells Project will be used to train new virtual cell models using CZI's computing system to derive greater insight into the vast dataset. As part of its commitment to open science to accelerate research and make science more inclusive, CZI plans to make the results from this initiative open source and freely available to help scientists around the world make new discoveries about human biology.
To rapidly generate data at a massive scale, increase knowledge sharing, and drive collaboration, CZI is partnering with an initial cohort of experts in the single-cell field and developers of innovative life science technologies. This partnership prioritizes data generation across diverse biological domains, with initial data sets including organisms such as mouse, zebrafish, and primary human cell models. These data will provide researchers immediate insight into areas that include gene regulation and function across organisms, and insights directly related to disease research.
"This project will provide a necessary scale of data to understand the functional effects of human genetic variants and characterize the genetic drivers of human disease," said Alexander Marson, Director of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology and collaborator. "Ultimately, the Billion Cells Project will also be a functional roadmap to guide drug development, identifying targets to restore diseased cells to health."
This collaboration will use 10x Genomics' Chromium GEM-X technology for single-cell analysis. Launched in 2024, the GEM-X technology architecture delivers superior sensitivity, throughput, data quality, and cell recovery to improve robustness and enable single-cell analysis at larger scale and lower cost.
"We are constantly working to push the boundaries of what's possible in single-cell analysis, and this collaboration with CZI and Ultima Genomics represents a significant leap forward," said Michael Schnall-Levin, Founding Scientist and Chief Technology Officer at 10x Genomics. "This collaboration exemplifies how the convergence of life sciences technologies and AI can accelerate the mastery of biology and ultimately transform human health."
Sequencing will be performed on the UG 100™, an ultra-high throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform developed by Ultima Genomics. The UG 100's unique wafer-based sequencing architecture enables high throughput and ultra-low-cost, making the platform well-suited for large-scale 'omics applications and the generation of genomic data at an unprecedented scale.
"Our mission is to continuously increase the scale and lower the costs of genomic information, and our UG 100 platform helps fulfill that vision by enabling high throughput generation of large-scale data omics sets at low costs," said Gilad Almogy, Founder and CEO of Ultima Genomics. "Initiatives like the Billion Cells Project showcase advances enabled by our innovative sequencing architecture combined with the emerging advances in AI and machine learning will enable a transformational approach to research that will accelerate scientific discovery and our understanding of biology's complexity."
These ambitious projects are made possible by collaborations across industry partners and serve as a template for future collaborations. As the Billion Cells Project progresses, additional partnerships with industry and academia are anticipated to ensure delivery of the ambition of the project on a short timescale.
About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 to help solve some of society's toughest challenges — from eradicating disease and improving education, to addressing the needs of our local communities. Our mission is to build a more inclusive, just, and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit chanzuckerberg.com.
About 10x Genomics
10x Genomics (NASDAQ: TXG) is a life science technology company building products to accelerate the mastery of biology and advance human health. Our integrated solutions include instruments, consumables and software for single cell and spatial biology, which help academic and translational researchers and biopharmaceutical companies understand biological systems at a resolution and scale that matches the complexity of biology. Our products are behind breakthroughs in oncology, immunology, neuroscience and more, fueling powerful discoveries that are transforming the world's understanding of health and disease. To learn more, visit 10xgenomics.com or connect with us on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).
About Ultima Genomics
Ultima Genomics is unleashing the power of genomics at scale. The Company's mission is to continuously drive the scale of genomic information to enable unprecedented advances in biology and improvements in human health. With humanity on the cusp of a biological revolution, there is a virtually endless need for more genomic information to address biology's complexity and dynamic change—and a further need to challenge conventional next-generation sequencing technologies. Ultima's revolutionary new sequencing architecture drives down the costs of sequencing to help overcome the tradeoffs that scientists and clinicians are forced to make between the breadth, depth and frequency with which they use genomic information. The new sequencing architecture was designed to scale far beyond conventional sequencing technologies, lower the cost of genomic information and catalyze the next phase of genomics in the 21st century. To learn more, visit www.ultimagenomics.com/.
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