Inference and Model Building for Vision-based Estimation of Transmissive Objects

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This proposal seeks to further the state of the art in the field of computer vision and image processing, with the goal of expanding and reinforcing the use of imaging modalities in our understanding of the world. Images are a rich source of information which are readily captured in many scenarios. The ability to process these images and extract meaning from them is the key goal of computer vision. The long-term objective of this proposal and the PI's research program in general is the theoretical and practical development of models which enable the estimation of properties of the world from images. One such problem is the estimation of detailed 3D structure of transmissive objects. Imaging and reconstruction of such objects arises in a range of domains including: optical imaging of translucent objects like clouds, glass, water or smoke, x-ray imaging of humans and animals for medical purposes, and transmission electron imaging or materials and biological specimens.The objectives of this proposal focus on transmission electron imaging with the aim to build new methods for electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM). Specific problems relating to the estimation of the 3D structure of biological molecules such as proteins and viruses from cryo-EM images are considered. Cryo-EM is a rapidly emerging method for experimental structure determination of biological molecules. The function of DNA has sometimes been explained by analogy as the source code of life. Continuing this analogy, proteins and viruses are the compiled programs which take the form of molecular machines that “execute life” at a cellular level. Determining the 3D structures of these machines and understanding how they work is not only of fundamental scientific interest, it is also critical in the understanding of disease and the development of novel drugs and treatments.The research proposed here would advance the state-of-the-art and have significant impacts on cryo-EM and consequently on many aspects of science and medicine both within Canada and around the world. By improving the reliability and resolution of estimation structures, the methods proposed here would form the basis for rapid structure determination methods which could be used to more quickly develop new drugs which would be less likely to have unexpected side-effects. They would also allow scientists to study never before seen mechanisms in the cell as the motion of these molecular machines could be captured directly.