B.A, Harvard University, 2001; Ph.D., 2006. Visiting Associate 2017-18; Assistant Professor, Caltech, 2010-17; Research Professor, 2017-2018; Professor, 2018-.

Our laboratory pioneered the field of spatial genomics. We developed tools such as seqFISH that allows >10,000 genes to be detected in situ with single molecule resolution in tissues. We also developed MEMOIR to record molecular events into the genome of cells in collaboration with Michael Elowitz’s lab. These transformative tools have allowed us to discover unexpected dynamics in stem cell biology, uncover spatial organization in the brain and embryos. We will continue to explore questions in developmental biology and neuroscience, as well as generating spatial atlas of organisms at the single cell resolution. The key to doing science is knowing what’s not known. Spatial genomics gives us a tool to find those unknowns.

Biological Engineering; Developmental Biology and Genetics; Microbiology and Immunology; Neuroscience; Systems Biology

Single-cell phenotyping within transparent intact tissue through whole-body clearing. Cell 158, 945 (2014) B. Yang, J.B. Treweek, R.J. Kulkarni, B.E. Deverman, C. Chen, E. Lubeck,S. Shah, L. Cai, and V. Gradinaru.

Dynamic Heterogeneity and DNA Methylation in Embryonic Stem Cells. Molecular Cell 55, 319 (2014) Z. S. Singer, J. Yong, J. Tischler, J. A. Hackett, A. Altinok, M. A. Surani, L. Cai, and M.B. Elowitz.

Single-cell in situ RNA profiling by sequential hybridization. Nature Methods 11, 360 (2014) E. Lubeck*, A. F. Coskun*, T. Zhiyentayev, M. Ahmad, and L. Cai

Turning single cells into microarrays by super-resolution barcoding. Briefings in Functional Genomics 12, 75 (2013) L. Cai

Single-cell systems biology by super-resolution imaging and combinatorial labeling. Nature Methods 9, 743 (2012) E. Lubeck and L. Cai

Frequency-modulated nuclear localization bursts coordinate gene regulation. Nature 445, 485 (2008) L. Cai*, C. Dalal*, and M.E. Elowitz

A stochastic single-molecule event triggers phenotype switching of a bacterial cell. Science 322, 422 (2008) P. Choi*, L. Cai*, K. Frieda, and X.S. Xie

Studying stochastic protein expression in individual cells with single molecule sensitivity. Nature 440, 358 (2006) L.Cai*, N. Friedman*, and X.S. Xie

Linking stochastic dynamics to population distribution: an analytical framework of gene expression. Phys. Rev. Lett, 97, 168302 (2006) N. Friedman, L.Cai, and X.S. Xie