Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026
10:00
An Ultrahigh-throughput Microfluidic Platform for Single-cell Genome Sequencing
Published on: May 23, 2018
Single-cell sequencing-based technologies will revolutionize whole-organism science.
Ehud Shapiro1, Tamir Biezuner, Sten Linnarsson
11] Department of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. [2] Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Nature Reviews. Genetics
|July 31, 2013
Summary
Next-generation sequencing advances enable single-cell genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics. These powerful tools will reveal detailed cell functions and relationships, advancing biological research and medicine.
Area of Science:
- Genomics and molecular biology
- Cell biology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Rapid advancements in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are driving innovation across multiple 'omics' fields.
- These sequencing-based methods are increasingly being applied at the single-cell level.
- This shift enables the investigation of biological questions previously unaddressable with bulk analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the transformative potential of single-cell 'omics' technologies.
- To explain how these technologies address fundamental questions in cell biology and developmental biology.
- To forecast the integration of these technologies for comprehensive cellular analysis.
Main Methods:
- Single-cell genomics for mapping cell lineage relationships.
- Single-cell transcriptomics for precise cell type definition beyond traditional markers.
- Single-cell epigenomics and proteomics for analyzing individual cell functional states.
Main Results:
- Single-cell genomics provides insights into cellular hierarchies and developmental trajectories.
- Single-cell transcriptomics offers a high-resolution view of cell identity and heterogeneity.
- Integrated single-cell epigenomics and proteomics allow for a deeper understanding of cellular mechanisms and responses.
Conclusions:
- The integration of single-cell 'omics' technologies is expected within a decade.
- This integration will facilitate high-throughput, multi-dimensional cellular analyses.
- These advancements will yield comprehensive knowledge of cell lineage trees in complex organisms, impacting basic science and clinical applications.
Related Concept Videos
03:00Next-generation Sequencing
The first human genome sequencing project cost $2.7 billion and was declared complete in 2003, after 15 years of international cooperation and collaboration between several research teams and funding agencies. Today, with the advent of next-generation sequencing technologies, the cost and time of sequencing a human genome have dropped over 100 fold.
Next-Generation Sequencing Methods
Although all next-generation methods use different technologies, they all share a set of standard features.
Next-Generation Sequencing Methods
Although all next-generation methods use different technologies, they all share a set of standard features.
02:02Genomics
Genomics is the science of genomes: it is the study of all the genetic material of an organism. In humans, the genome consists of information carried in 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nucleus, as well as mitochondrial DNA. In genomics, both coding and non-coding DNA is sequenced and analyzed. Genomics allows a better understanding of all living things, their evolution, and their diversity. It has a myriad of uses: for example, to build phylogenetic trees, to improve productivity and...
03:21RNA-seq
RNA sequencing, or RNA-Seq, is a high-throughput sequencing technology used to study the transcriptome of a cell. Transcriptomics helps to interpret the functional elements of a genome and identify the molecular constituents of an organism. Additionally, it also helps in understanding the development of an organism and the occurrence of diseases.
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while microarray-based...
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while microarray-based...
01:29Modern Molecular Taxonomy
Advancements in molecular biology have revolutionized the identification and characterization of bacteria, with multiple methods leveraging DNA sequencing for enhanced precision. As sequencing technologies improve and costs decline, these approaches are increasingly used in clinical, environmental, and evolutionary studies.Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) examines several housekeeping genes, essential chromosomal genes encoding cellular functions, to distinguish strains. Approximately...
01:57Sanger Sequencing
DNA sequencing is a fundamental technique that is routinely used in the biological sciences. This method can be applied to a range of questions at different scales - from the sequencing of a cloned DNA fragment or the study of a mutation in a gene up to whole-genome sequencing. However, despite the widespread use of sequencing today, it was not until 1977 that Fredrick Sanger and his collaborators developed the chain-termination method to decode DNA sequences. It relies on the separation of a...