Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions
Jonathan A Griffiths Antonio Scialdone John C Marioni
First published: 16 April 2018 https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20178046
Abstract
High‐throughput ‐omics techniques have revolutionised biology, allowing for thorough and unbiased characterisation of the molecular states of biological systems. However, cellular decision‐making is inherently a unicellular process to which “bulk” ‐omics techniques are poorly suited, as they capture ensemble averages of cell states. Recently developed single‐cell methods bridge this gap, allowing high‐throughput molecular surveys of individual cells. In this review, we cover core concepts of analysis of single‐cell gene expression data and highlight areas of developmental biology where single‐cell techniques have made important contributions. These include understanding of cell‐to‐cell heterogeneity, the tracing of differentiation pathways, quantification of gene expression from specific alleles, and the future directions of cell lineage tracing and spatial gene expression analysis.
FREE PDF GRATIS: Molecular Systems Biology
