Reproducible Cells and Organoids via Directed-Differentiation Encoding (RECODE) (nsf205... - 0 views
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MiamiOH OARS on 04 Feb 20The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET), seeks proposals that elucidate mechanisms of, and develop strategies to, direct the differentiation of undifferentiated cells into mature, functional cells or organoids. Projects responsive to this solicitation must aim to establish a robust and reproducible set of differentiation design rules, predictive models, real-time sensing, control, and quality assurance methods, and integrate them into a workable differentiation strategy. They must develop a fundamental understanding of how cells develop, including mechanisms, molecular machinery, dynamics, and cell-cell interactions, and use this understanding to manipulate cells purposefully. Investigators can choose any undifferentiated cell type, from any animal species, as a starting point and choose any appropriate functional product (cell, organoid, etc.) with real-world relevance. This solicitation parallels NSF's investment in Understanding the Rules of Life (URoL): Predicting Phenotype, NSF's Big Idea focused on predicting the set of observable characteristics (phenotype) of an organism based on its genetic makeup and the nature of its environment and applies it to understanding and accomplishing the intentional and guided differentiation of an undifferentiated cell into cells, organoids or tissues with predetermined activities and functions.