Prof. Yuval Ebenstein

Next generation sequencing (NGS) is revolutionizing all fields of biological research but it fails to extract the full range of information associated with genetic material and is lacking in its ability to resolve many variations between genomes. The high degree of genome variation exhibited both on the population level, as well as between genetically “identical” cells (even in the same organ) makes genetic and epigenetic analysis on the single cell and single genome level a necessity.

The Ebenstein lab's main scientific interest is to unmask genomic variation. We aim to achieve this goal by developing and utilizing a toolbox of physical barcoding techniques that highlight and read-out information from genomic DNA. Our goal is to utilize expertise in optics, biochemistry, single-molecule detection and data science to study questions in genomics that are not accessible to NGS. A major effort is invested in the development of AI based tools to enable large scale readout and data processing of genetic and epigenetic information at single molecule resolution. We are specifically interested in chemical DNA modifications, such as epigenetic transformations (methylation and de-methylation) and DNA damage adducts. Our lab team is composed of 15 enthusiastic young researchers and we are considered pioneers in the emerging field of single molecule epigenetics.