Recent technological developments in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Engineering provide new strategies to tackle pressing problems in cell biology. The Center for Cell and Genome Science (CCGS) provides a dynamic, interdisciplinary environment for development and pursuit of strategies to visualize, probe and manipulate the microscopic workings of cells. Our ambition is to understand how genetic information is translated into the molecular works of the cell, and how this machinery is arranged and controlled to build cells with unique functions.