The challenge
Every person’s cancer is different, but, for too long, cancer care involved treating each type of tumor in the same way. Breast cancers were breast cancers, prostate cancers were prostate cancers, and so on.
But, today, it is recognized that cancers are different in each person, and that the makeup of tumor cells and surrounding tissues will change in each person over time.
As founding scientist and chief technology officer at 10x Genomics, Hertz Fellow Michael Schnall-Levin is creating breakthrough tools that provide researchers with clear and comprehensive views of tumors and other tissues, at the DNA level.
the solution
Through 10x Genomics technology, researchers can now zoom into a tumor to view malfunctioning DNA, which helps them understand both how different therapies are impacting different cells, and how cells interact with neighboring tissues.
The technology has led to countless new discoveries and ways to treat diseases. It’s also fueling the personalized medicine movement by enabling clinicians to look at tumors spatially. Instead of testing a random mixture of tumor cells, they can look at a piece or slice of an intact tumor and understand the specific location of cancer cells versus healthy cells.
“10x Genomics technology gives you another extra layer of information about how things are interacting with each other, and how they are organized with respect to each other,” he says.
Michael Schnall-Levin
Founding Scientist and CTO, 10x Genomics
The impact
10x Genomics’ software and hardware are used by virtually every major global research institution and pharmaceutical company in the world, and in more than 7,000 peer-reviewed publications.
This personalized view of cancer has also enabled immunotherapy cancer treatments, which target the patient’s own tumor system, and revolutionized vast sectors of cancer care.
“You get to work on really interesting technology that is intellectually stimulating and challenging, but it also has a health impact. That’s rare,” Schnall-Levin said.
