SYNCELL Inc. is a spatial biology system company spun out of research at the Academia Sinica of Taiwan and is headquartered in Nangang National Biotechnology Research Park.
Jung-Chi Liao, Ph.D., CEO and founder of SYNCELL was interviewed by Global Bio & Investment monthly magazine recently, where he described the genesis of SYNCELL and how he leads his team in developing a novel spatial biology platform, Microscoop, to solve complex biological problems with precision optoproteomics, AI image processing and innovative biochemistry.
In this cover story, Dr. Liao recalls how the idea of using light to scoop up proteins from cells came to him. During a dentist office visit, his dentist performed the light-based operative dentistry (OD) on him. The OD procedure used a halogen lamp to emit blue light to quickly harden the resin filling material on the teeth. Dr. Liao had a sudden insight thinking, “Can the light reaction also be applied to specific areas of cells and “jellify” the proteins in that area?”
After he left his faculty position at Columbia University in 2014 and returned to Taiwan to conduct research at the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science of the Academia Sinica, the leading publicly funded research institute in Taiwan, however, he has always kept the vision of building a platform that can push science to a new frontier. In 2014, he started to explore the idea of using light activation to “jellify” and separate cellular proteins but the results were not satisfactory. Later, he thought “Why not directly label the proteins with light?” and after several years of focused research, his team invented the photolabeling chemistry which ultimately became the cornerstone of Microscoop spatial biology technology.
His lab also received grant support from Taiwan Precision Instrument Research and Development Project to develop the mechatronics and software required for Microscoop to rapidly photolabel 5,000 microscopic fields of view to collect enough proteins for proteome analysis. The Microscoop program progressed rapidly and in May 2020, SYNCELL was officially incorporated and became one of the most promising startups. Dr. Liao spoke with enthusiasm about the recent close of Series pre-A and how he plans to use the new capital to accelerate commercialization of the Microscoop platform as well as SYNCELL’s plans to offer this exciting new technology to customers in Taiwan and the US in early 2022.
At the end of the interview, Dr. Liao emphasized that SYNCELL’s Microscoop can offer a unique ability to map previously unknown cellular interactions and functions by analyzing the contextual information of cells and tissue sections in a microenvironment. The knowledge will return insight to deduce new biological mechanisms, identify new drug targets and discover biomarkers for therapy response. Dr. Liao reiterated his vision for SYNCELL to bring together innovative technology with the top engineering/biochemistry/software minds to create a powerful tool that would have real impact on improving human health.
About Global Biotech Monthly
Global Biotech Monthly aims to gain a foothold in the Greater China market and look at the world, and we look forward to growing together with the Chinese biotech industry.
Website: www.gbimonthly.com
About SYNCELL Inc.
SYNCELL is a development stage company with a vision to revolutionize in situ cell biology and biomedical research. The company will soon introduce its groundbreaking Microscoop™ platform, the first and only system that allows users to pick up, identify and quantify thousands of known and unknown proteins in specified cellular and subcellular locations. Microscoop™ is pairing unique imaging and illuminating capabilities with novel photolabeling chemicals to provide deep spatial proteomics insights to transform a wide range of basic biology and translational research including neuroscience, oncology, immunology, infectious disease, gene therapy, and to identify novel therapeutic targets with spatial context to accelerate drug discovery and development programs.
CONTACT:
Shuyi Liao
SYNCELL, Inc.
Phone +886-2-77505632
Info@syncell.com
Follow SYNCELL on LinkedIn at SYNCELL INC. and tag your posts with #syncell or #microscoop"
news source:https://news.gbimonthly.com/tw/enterprise/show.php?num=43965
SYNCELL Inc. is a spatial biology system company spun out of research at the Academia Sinica of Taiwan and is headquartered in Nangang National Biotechnology Research Park.
Jung-Chi Liao, Ph.D., CEO and founder of SYNCELL was interviewed by Global Bio & Investment monthly magazine recently, where he described the genesis of SYNCELL and how he leads his team in developing a novel spatial biology platform, Microscoop, to solve complex biological problems with precision optoproteomics, AI image processing and innovative biochemistry.
In this cover story, Dr. Liao recalls how the idea of using light to scoop up proteins from cells came to him. During a dentist office visit, his dentist performed the light-based operative dentistry (OD) on him. The OD procedure used a halogen lamp to emit blue light to quickly harden the resin filling material on the teeth. Dr. Liao had a sudden insight thinking, “Can the light reaction also be applied to specific areas of cells and “jellify” the proteins in that area?”
After he left his faculty position at Columbia University in 2014 and returned to Taiwan to conduct research at the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science of the Academia Sinica, the leading publicly funded research institute in Taiwan, however, he has always kept the vision of building a platform that can push science to a new frontier. In 2014, he started to explore the idea of using light activation to “jellify” and separate cellular proteins but the results were not satisfactory. Later, he thought “Why not directly label the proteins with light?” and after several years of focused research, his team invented the photolabeling chemistry which ultimately became the cornerstone of Microscoop spatial biology technology.
His lab also received grant support from Taiwan Precision Instrument Research and Development Project to develop the mechatronics and software required for Microscoop to rapidly photolabel 5,000 microscopic fields of view to collect enough proteins for proteome analysis. The Microscoop program progressed rapidly and in May 2020, SYNCELL was officially incorporated and became one of the most promising startups. Dr. Liao spoke with enthusiasm about the recent close of Series pre-A and how he plans to use the new capital to accelerate commercialization of the Microscoop platform as well as SYNCELL’s plans to offer this exciting new technology to customers in Taiwan and the US in early 2022.
At the end of the interview, Dr. Liao emphasized that SYNCELL’s Microscoop can offer a unique ability to map previously unknown cellular interactions and functions by analyzing the contextual information of cells and tissue sections in a microenvironment. The knowledge will return insight to deduce new biological mechanisms, identify new drug targets and discover biomarkers for therapy response. Dr. Liao reiterated his vision for SYNCELL to bring together innovative technology with the top engineering/biochemistry/software minds to create a powerful tool that would have real impact on improving human health.
About Global Biotech Monthly
Global Biotech Monthly aims to gain a foothold in the Greater China market and look at the world, and we look forward to growing together with the Chinese biotech industry.
Website: www.gbimonthly.com
About SYNCELL Inc.
SYNCELL is a development stage company with a vision to revolutionize in situ cell biology and biomedical research. The company will soon introduce its groundbreaking Microscoop™ platform, the first and only system that allows users to pick up, identify and quantify thousands of known and unknown proteins in specified cellular and subcellular locations. Microscoop™ is pairing unique imaging and illuminating capabilities with novel photolabeling chemicals to provide deep spatial proteomics insights to transform a wide range of basic biology and translational research including neuroscience, oncology, immunology, infectious disease, gene therapy, and to identify novel therapeutic targets with spatial context to accelerate drug discovery and development programs.
CONTACT:
Shuyi Liao
SYNCELL, Inc.
Phone +886-2-77505632
Info@syncell.com
Follow SYNCELL on LinkedIn at SYNCELL INC. and tag your posts with #syncell or #microscoop"
news source:https://news.gbimonthly.com/tw/enterprise/show.php?num=43965