RNA interference (RNAi) has become a powerful functional genomics technology and allows researchers to direct potent and specific gene silencing.  The Yale Center for High Throughput Cell Biology (HTCB) provides cutting edge tools and expertise to help researchers use RNAi, high throughput screening (HTS), and high content screening technologies.

Our specialties include high resolution confocal imaging, HTS cell-based assay development, and applied bioinformatics. Our expertise in developing customized image analysis, coupled with our best-in-class high content imaging equipment, allows the HTCB to undertake and execute projects identifying subtle and otherwise intractable phenotypes.  The nature of RNAi research requires robust bioinformatics, and the HTCB specializes in applying cutting-edge screening informatics, biostatistics, and pathways-based bioinformatics research.

Our primary focus is in developing and executing high-throughput high-content cell-based assays in any applicable system and in a wide range of cell types.  We currently offer access to siRNA libraries targeting human genes in specialty sub-libraries and at the full genome (>18,000 targets) scale.  We have recently undertaken projects using siRNA in Drosophila cells, and we look forward to expanding our reagent libraries (miRNA, shRNA, siRNA targeting alternate species, etc.) based on need/interest from the research community.

Current projects with Yale investigators cover a broad spectrum of research areas including HPV infection, Glioma stem cell differentiation, and multiple projects focused on human polycystic kidney disease.

The HTCB provides access to lab space and equipment for experiments of any scale, from knocking down a handful of genes to high throughput screening of partial- or genome-wide siRNA libraries. Our resources are also available for other purposes, for example, high throughput liquid handling for library arraying, confocal microscopy, and chem- and bioinformatics projects.


The services provided to Yale researchers are also available to academics at other institutions and to corporate clients with whom we have multiple collaborations and contracts in place.