Statistics and Data Science Seminar - Dr Magdalena Strauss (University of Exeter)

Individual cells respond to perturbations such as disease, drugs, or gene editing (experiments that change DNA) at different speeds, to different degrees or using different cellular response mechanisms. Understanding this inter-cell heterogeneity is vital in applications to precision medicine. Experimentally, single-cell methods such as single-cell RNA-sequencing and single-cell DNA-sequencing have paved the way for a fine-grained understanding of the heterogeneity of cellular response to perturbations. However, high noise levels and biases in the data have required the development of specific statistical tools for data analysis and to inform experimental set-up. I will be presenting a joint effort with experimental research groups to develop an approach that links DNA, RNA and drug response in single cells. Our approach has enabled the systematic study of rare DNA mutations in patients at scale in the lab. We then applied this strategy to improve understanding of mechanisms of resistance to cancer drugs.