The RIKEN QBiC was established in April 2011 to study the complex spatiotemporal relationships within living systems using an assortment of innovative measuring, analyzing, and modeling technologies. As part of that mission, QBiC will inaugurate a series of annual symposia in August 2015 to facilitate the global and timely exchange of findings in related research fields.

The theme of QBiC symposium 2016 is “Decoding Organisms by Quantitative Cell Profiling”. The recent progress in microscopic imaging technologies that can directly observe live cell dynamics are remarkable. Additionally, the speed of progress in analysis of big data such as transcriptome, proteome, metabolome is also amazing. On one hand, the major advantage of imaging techniques is noninvasive observation of living materials, but comprehensive analyses are difficult as the number of observable elements is limited. On the other hand, the omics approaches are comprehensive and quantitative, but are destructive to the living cells. As imaging and omics are regarded as complementary approaches, we will have greater understanding of cell biology if we are able to harness the advantages of both techniques. Furthermore, if we can develop the algorithm that relates the huge data from both the microscopy and omics by using AI and deep learning, we will have an extraordinarily strong tool for predicting the detailed internal state of cells through microscopic images, with potential breakthroughs in disease diagnosis, drug development, therapy, and regenerative medicine to be realized. QBiC named such novel approaches DECODE (DEcoding Cell from Omics and Dynamic Expression) and has recently started DECODE as center wide research project. To achieve such lofty goals however, more and closer communication between researchers in experimental, theoretical and bioinformatics fields is necessary. Therefore, the primary objectives of this symposium are to provide a platform for exchanging ideas among leading scientists in a variety of fields and to promote future collaborations.

The program will include both oral presentations and poster sessions. We are looking forward to many of you participating.

Toshio Yanagida, Ph. D.

Director
RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center