The MIC continues to work closely with Dr. Ang Cai in the RI-INBRE CRCF, Dr. Chang Liu, and Ni Deng in the College of Pharmacy to develop standardized workflows for proteomics projects. Proteomics is the preferred omics method of many biomedical applications because proteins are the typical target of drug action, unlike transcripts. However, a single omics layer can only tell us so much. Correlating across multiple omics layers using a multiomic approach increases statistical power and gives researchers more confidence in their results. To this end, we are working with Dr. Liu to expand our workflows into multiomics

With the MIC and CRCF, RI-INBRE recently purchased single-cell and spatial omics technologies from 10X Genomics.  The Chromium X is the latest single-cell machine from 10X Genomics and supports all the latest chemistries.  The Visium CytAssist is designed to simplify processing sample tissue slices for exploratory spatial omics using the 10X Genomics Visium platform. We are also developing workflows for using these systems to develop cell atlases and conduct differential analysis, and RNA velocity experiments.

Many researchers and institutions want to utilize emerging AI technologies in their classes and research.  The MIC is actively moving into this area as well.  MIC Director Dr. Chris Hemme was part of the planning committee for this year’s URI Academic Summit which focused on AI. The MIC also beta-tests an AI agent for pharmacology called the Molecular Analysis and Reasoning Assistant (MARA). MARA is a scientific co-pilot centered on cheminformatics, bioinformatics, and pharmacology.  We are developing tools within MARA to simplify everyday tasks such as accessing information from chemical databases and processing that data within pharmacology workflows.

We recently installed a new Mimaki 3DUJ-2207 3D inkjet printer for printing molecular structures.  This new machine replaces our old powder-based printer.  The new printer allows us to print a broader range of more structurally sound and flexible models than the powder-based models.  It also allows us to print transparent and overlayed models (e.g. a transparent protein surface over a colored backbone model).  Researchers interested in printing models should contact the MIC.