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Tremendous progress has been achieved in the coherent control of single quantum states (single charges, phonons, photons, and spins). At the frontier of quantum information science are efforts to hybridize different quantum degrees of freedom. For example, by coupling a single photon to a single electron fundamental light-matter interactions may be examined at the single particle level to reveal exotic quantum effects, such as single atom lasing. Coherent coupling of spin and light, which has been the subject of many theoretical proposals over the past 20 years, could enable a quantum internet where highly coherent electron spins are used for quantum computing and single photons enable long-range spin-spin interactions. In this colloquium I will describe experiments where we couple a single spin in silicon to a single microwave frequency photon. The coupling mechanism is based on spin-charge hybridization in the presence of a large magnetic field gradient. Spin-photon coupling rates gs/2 > 10 MHz are achieved and vacuum Rabi splitting is observed in the cavity transmission, indicating single spin-photon strong coupling. These results open a direct path toward entangling single spins at a distance using microwave frequency photons.

Intracellular metabolites that give rise to quantifiable MR resonances are excellent structural probes for the intracellular space, and are oftentimes specific, or preferential enough to a certain cell type to provide information that is also cell-type specific. In the brain, N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and glutamate (Glu) are predominantly neuronal/axonal in nature, whereas soluble choline compounds (tCho), myo-inositol (mI) and glutamine (Gln) are predominantly glial. The diffusion properties of these metabolites, examined by diffusion weighted MR spectroscopy (DWS) exclusively reflect properties of the intracellular milieu, thus reflecting properties such as cytosolic viscosity, macromolecular crowding, tortuosity of the intracellular space, the integrity of the cytoskeleton and other intracellular structures, and in some cases – intracellular sub-compartmentation and exchange.

The presentation will introduce the basic methodological concepts of DWS and the particular challenges of acquiring robust DWS for accurate estimation of metabolite diffusion properties. Subsequently, the unique ability of DWS to characterize cell-type specific structural and physiological features will be demonstrated, followed by several applications of DWS to discern cell-type specific intracellular damage in disease, especially in multiple sclerosis (MS) and in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). Also discussed are the advantages and the challenges of performing DWS at ultrahigh field will follow, and the possibilities of combining DTI/DWI and DWS in a combined analysis framework aimed at better characterizing tissue microstructural properties in health and disease. The presentation will conclude with examples of the potential of DWS to monitor and quantify cellular energy metabolism, where enzymatic processes may affect the diffusion properties of metabolites involved in metabolism.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a devastating disease with less than 10% of elderly patients survive five years. While AML originates from stem cells which evolve over many years it presents acutely due to the expansion of more committed progenitors. Over the recent years we were able to identify the origins of AML relapse, and also to study AML years before it is diagnosed. We now can predict AML 6 years before diagnosis. Future studies will soon provide evidence whether early treatment will be beneficial.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies aims to disrupt the paradigm of biological analysis. Our technology and commercial model has already opened up DNA analysis to researchers who previously had no direct access to sequencing technologies, freeing them up to perform analyses in their own labs or in the field, and in real time. We continually improve the technology performance, make it easier to use and expand the ways in which users can access nanopore sequencing. This technology pathway is designed to enable the analysis of any living thing, by any person, in any environment.

This seminar will introduce the world's first and only nanopore DNA sequencer, the MinION which is able to sequence DNA and RNA directly, without the need for PCR. It will include examples of the MinION’s portability, the opportunities that come from real-time analysis and how long reads meet some of the challenges that exist in genomic research today. It will show how this low-cost device that has been designed to bring easy biological analyses to anyone, whether in scientific research, education or a range of real-world applications such as disease/pathogen surveillance or even microgravity biology. The MinION is in use by a thriving community of scientists in more than 70 countries, where it is enabling a myriad applications within the traditional laboratory environment and in the field.

Nanopore sequencing is full scalable through the GridION X5 and PromethION which can be used to address sequencing projects of any size. Both these systems have flow cells that can be used independently or altogether for larger projects or anything in between. Large and small projects can be run at the same time, started at different times and run for as long as necessary to generate the data required.

Join us to learn:
• How nanopore sequencing works
• What makes it different
• The options for DNA and RNA sequencing
• How easy it is to scale experiments
• What’s involved in starting to use the technology