Sequencing technologies, single-cell sequencing, stereo-seq technologies and applications of sequencing technologies in precision medicine and biodiversity. 

Main achievements include the establishment of the second generation sequencer research and development team, and the completion of a number of models of high-throughput and desktop sequencers, breaking the long-term dependence on imports of sequencers. In addition to publishing a series of scientific papers on genetic diseases and cancer research, he has also worked in developing diagnostic kits for clinical application. 

Organized a team of agricultural genome researchers to achieve a large number of high-level scientific research publications. He leaded genomics studies on plant and animals, especially crops and livestock, to understand the important biological process of evolution and domestication. For the plant and animal genomic studies, he successfully coordinated the genome consortiums for the potato, cabbage, CHO, sheep, goat, etc, and he has successfully organized genetic researches of rice, maize, soybean, ect. He has pushed the development of application of agricultural germplasm resources diversity and gene for crop transformation. He also led the team to further promote the application of genome in agriculture, and led the 10KP project, the project aiming to accomplish genome sequencing of 10,000 plants in 10 years. He spearheaded the Spatio Temporal Omics Consortium(STOC), which has already drawn more than 150 scientists from 30 countries, including scientists from Harvard University, Oxford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, the Karolinska Institutet, the University of Western Australia, the Genome Institute of Singapore, and BGI . The goal of STOC is to use various spatial methods to tackle tough questions in areas related to human physiology, pathogenesis and evolutionary biology. In addition, he is part of the African Orphan Crops Project, which aims to use cutting-edge genome technology to help local farmers in precision breeding.

2003.9-2007.7    Wuhan University, Bachelor of biology

2007.9-2015.7    Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS, Doctor of genetics

   

2008.09 - now  Director of BGI Research

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1.         Xu X*, et al.，Genome-wide patterns of genetic variation among elite maize inbred lines. Nature Genetics 42(11):1027-30 (2010).

2.         Xu X*, et al.，Resequencing of 31 wild and cultivated soybean genomes identifies patterns of genetic diversity and selection. Nature Genetics 42(12):1053-9（2010）.

3.         X. Xu*, et al. Genome sequence and analysis of the tuber crop potato. Nature. 475(7355):189-95 (2011).

4.         X. Xu*, et al. The genomic sequence of the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cell line. Nat. Biotechnol. 29(8):735-41 (2011)

5.         X. Xu*, et al. Resequencing 50 accessions of cultivated and wild rice yields markers for identifying agronomically important genes. Nat. Biotechnol. 30(1):105-11. (2011).

6.         X. Xu* et al., Single-cell exome sequencing reveals single-nucleotide mutation characteristics of a kidney tumor. Cell 148, 886-895 (2012).

7.         Xu X*, et al., Genome sequence of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) provides insights into grass evolution and biofuel potential. Nat Biotechnol 30(6):549-54 (2012).

8.         Xu X*, et al., Comparative population genomics of maize domestication and improvement. Nat Genet 44(7):808-11(2012).

9.         Y. Li, X. Xu^# , et al., Single-cell sequencing analysis characterizes common and cell-lineage-specific mutations in a muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Gigascience. 14;1(1):12 (2012).

10.     Dong Y, … Xu X^# et al., Sequencing and automated whole-genome optical mapping of the genome of a domestic goat (Capra hircus). Nat Biotechnol 31(2):135-41(2013).

11.     R. Varshney, … X. Xu^#, et al. Draft genome sequence of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) provides a resource for trait improvement. Nature Biotechnology. 31(3):240-6 (2013).

12.     L. Zhao, …, X. Xu^#, et al., High-Purity Prostate Circulating Tumor Cell Isolation by a Polymer Nanofiber-Embedded Microchip for Whole Exome Sequencing. Adv Mater 25(21):2897-902 (2013).

13.     X. You, …, X. Xu*, et al. Mudskipper genomes provide insights into the terrestrial adaptation of amphibious fishes. Nat Commun. 5:5594 (2014).

14.     Y. Jiang, … X. Xu^#, et al. The sheep genome illuminates biology of the rumen and lipid metabolism. Science 344(6188): 1168-73 (2014).

15.     H. Cao, …, X. Xu^#. Rapid detection of structural variation in a human genome using nanochannel-based genome mapping technology. Gigascience. 3(1):34 (2014).

16.     X. Qi, …, X. Xu^#, et al. Identification of a novel salt tolerance gene in wild soybean by whole-genome sequencing. Nat Commun.5:4340 (2014).

17.     Z. Hu, …X. Xu^#, et al. Genome-wide profiling of HPV integration in cervical cancer identifies clustered genomic hot spots and a potential microhomology-mediated integration mechanism. Nature Genetics (47)158–163 (2015).

18.     R. Varshney, …X. Xu^#. Pearl millet genome sequence provides a resource to improve agronomic traits in arid environments. Nature Biotechnology (35) 969–976 (2017).

19.     S. Liu , … X. Xu^#, Genomic Analyses from Non-invasive Prenatal Testing Reveal Genetic Associations, Patterns of Viral Infections, and Chinese Population History. Cell 175, 347-359 (2018).

20.     L. Liu, … X. Xu^#, Deconvolution of single-cell multi-omics layers reveals regulatory heterogeneity, Nat Commun 10(1):470 (2019).

21.     R. Varshney, … X. Xu^#, et al. Resequencing of 429 chickpea accessions from 45 countries provides insights into genome diversity, domestication and agronomic traits. Nat Genet. 51(5):857-864 (2019).

22.     17.   Y. Zhao, … X. Xu^#, et al. Resequencing 545 ginkgo genomes across the world reveals the evolutionary history of the living fossil. Nat Commun 10(1):4201 (2019).

23.     J. Guo, …, X. Xu^#, et al. Sequencing of the MHC region defines HLA-DQA1 as the major genetic risk for seropositive rheumatoid arthritis in Han Chinese population. Ann Rheum Dis. 78(6):773-780 (2019).

24.     Z. Li, ..., X. Xu^#, et al. DNB-based on-chip motif finding A high-throughput method to profile different types of protein-DNA interactions. Science Advances 6(31):eabb3350(2020).

25.  H. Zhong, ..., X. Xu^#, et al. Characterization of respiratory microbial dysbiosis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Cell Discovery. 13;7(1):23(2021).

26.     L. Han, … X. Xu^#, et al. Cell transcriptomic atlas of the non-human primate Macaca fascicularis. Nature. 604，723-731(2022).

27.     A. Chen, …, X. Xu^#, et al. Spatiotemporal transcriptomic atlas of mouse organogenesis using DNA nanoball-patterned arrays. Cell. 185（10），1777-1792 .e21（2022）

28.     Md Abdul Mazid, …, X. Xu^#, et al. Rolling back of human pluripotent stem cells to an 8-cell embryo-like stage. Nature 605(7909),315-324(2022)

29.     Xiaoyu Wei, …, X. Xu^#, et al. Single-cell Stereo-seq reveals induced progenitor cells involved in axolotl brain regeneration. Science 377,6610(2022).

30.     Xu X*, et al., Mendelian randomization analyses support causal relationships between blood metabolites and the gut microbiome. Nat Genet 54,52-61(2022).

（1）Large field-of-view, high-resolution spatially resolved transcriptomics using DNA nanoball patterned arrays. 

STOC SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOP AGENDA（时空组学联盟研讨会）. 2022-05-05

（2）Gene large Data Changes the Health Landscape.

The 21st China High-Tech Fair, China High-Tech Forum.  2019-11-13

（3）Cutting-edge BGI technologies enable single cell analysis and fully phased genomes.

The 19th annual conference of the Australasian Genomic Technologies Association.  2019-10-07

（4）Standardization reform helps the life and health industry.

The 21st China International Industry Fair Science and Technology Forum.  2019-09-25

（5）Gene large Data and Application of Precision Medicine.

The China Holistic Integrate Biobankology Conference 2019 & 6th China Biobank Dean Forum. 2019-03-29

（6）China National GeneBank "Store·Read·Write" platform facilitates big data mining and application of precision medicine.

China Biobank International Symposium and Life Data Intelligence Forum.  2018-11-29

（7）Big data in plant Genomics. 

Plant and Animal Genome Conference (PAG) ASIA.  2018-05-30

（8）Digital Lives for All Biobanks.

International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories(ISBER).  2018-05-20

（9）Digital Lives for Better Earth. 

The 1st AsiaEvo Conference.  2018-04-17

（10）Plant genome big data and future precision agriculture. 

The 19th International Botanical Congress.  2017-07-23

（11）CNGB-BGI Introduction of Biodiversity Resources.   

Global Genome Biodiversity Network Asia Symposium.  2017-07-22

（12）Gene Banking and Precision Medicine. 

The WorldCryobiology and Biobanking Conference.   2017-07-20

（13）Genome Reading and Writing in China National GeneBank. 

The seventh international meeting on synthetic biology.   2017-06-13

（14）Diverse Evolutionary Dynamics in tumor and early neurodevelopment inferred by single cell sequencing. 

Cold Spring Harbor AsiaConference on Frontiers in Single Cell Genomics.   2016-11-07

现指导学生

殷瑞莲  博士研究生  0710Z1-基因组学  

吕同轩  硕士研究生  086000-生物与医药  

张辉  博士研究生  0710Z1-基因组学  

朱博琳  博士研究生  0710Z1-基因组学  

At present, Dr. Xu has authored or co-authored 300+ scientific papers published in top peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Science, and Cell. Dr. Xu has led 15 major national scientific research projects and several international projects. He was awarded the "Ministry of Science and Technology Challenges Young Scientists", "Pengcheng Outstanding Talents Award", "Guangdong Science and Technology First Prize" , "Ministry of Education Natural Science Award Second Prize" , " Tan Jiazhen Award for Life Science Industrialization " and " Young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions in the Program of Ten Thousands Talents by the Chinese Central Government ".