Speaker: Gajus Worthington, President, CEO, and Co-Founder
Gajus V. Worthington is a Co-Founder of Fluidigm Corporation and has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director since our inception in June 1999. From May 1994 to April 1999, Mr. Worthington held various staff and management positions at Actel Corporation, a public semiconductor corporation. Mr. Worthington received a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Title: Advanced technology of Single Cell Gene Analysis
Abstract: Single-cell gene expression profiling has recently been used to characterize emergent properties in cell populations that drive lineage choice and specificity in reprogrammed cells, decisions in very early embryonic development, and to identify cancer stem cell biomarkers in tumor biopsies. We have developed a simple, modular workflow for streamlined analysis of cell populations down to the single-cell level. The workflow is centered on two key components: the C1™ Single-Cell Auto Prep System for automated cell isolation and cDNA preparation, and the BioMark™ HD System for highly parallel gene expression analysis. Starting from samples containing only a few hundred cells, the preparation system isolates individual cells into discrete compartments within a microfluidic device. Cells can be inspected after isolation using either brightfield microscopy or fluorescent markers to verify cell number and type. Following cell inspection and verification, the selected individual cells are automatically processed to prepare and output high-quality targeted cDNA for gene expression analysis using quantitative PCR. Targeted cDNA samples are loaded and analyzed in parallel with up to 96 gene expression assays per cell on Dynamic Array™ IFC’s using the BioMark™ HD System. We are in the process of developing a preparation method for full length mRNA-sequencing libraries using the cell capture, isolation and imaging capabilities the C1 System. The ability to prepare mRNA-Seq libraries from single cells will enable detailed descriptions of transcription in cell populations at the level of the individual cell. Cells will be automatically processed into high-quality cDNA that can be used to prepare sequencing libraries for single-cell transcriptome analysis. Characterization of variations in gene expression within cell populations has revealed a wide spectrum of variation in gene expression and within signaling networks that drive the changes behind key cellular transitions in a variety of biological systems.
Time: 1pm, 1/16/2013, Wednesday
Venue: Bio-tech Building, 2201
About the Company: Fluidigm is a biotech tools company that creates microfluidic-based chips and instrumentation for biological research.
Fluidigm co-founder Stephen Quake invented a microscopic valve while he was teaching at Caltech in 1998. Much the way a transistor controls the flow of electrons in a computer chip, Fluidigm’s microfluidic valve performs the same function for the life sciences industry in a microfluidic chip made of rubber. Quake and Gajus Worthington founded Fluidigm in 1999. Worthington is the company’s president and chief executive officer, while Quake is head of Fluidigm's Scientific Advisory Board, co-chair of the bioengineering department at Stanford University, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
In the late 1990s, most microfluidic experts came from the semiconductor industry and preferred substrates like silicon, glass or plastic, but not Fluidigm. Quake’s invention created the chip out of fusing multiple layers of rubber. That substrate is unique within the bio-chip industry and is illustrative of how Fluidigm has pioneered its path to creating a variety of PCR-based solutions.
