Project Achilles is a systematic effort aimed at identifying and cataloging genetic vulnerabilities across hundreds of genomically characterized cancer cell lines. The project uses genome-wide genetic perturbation reagents (shRNAs or Cas9/sgRNAs) to silence or knock-out individual genes and identify those genes that affect cell survival. Large-scale functional screening of cancer cell lines provides a complementary approach to those studies that aim to characterize the molecular alterations (e.g. mutations, copy number alterations) of primary tumors, such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The overall goal of the project is to identify cancer genetic dependencies and link them to molecular characteristics in order to prioritize targets for therapeutic development and identify the patient population that might benefit from such targets.
Project Achilles data is hosted on the Cancer Dependency Map Portal (DepMap) where it has been harmonized with our genomics and cellular models data. You can access the latest and all past datasets here: https://depmap.org/portal/download/all/