Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions
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 the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2018-04-01
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| Series: | Molecular Systems Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20178046 |
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| author | Jonathan A Griffiths Antonio Scialdone John C Marioni |
| author_facet | Jonathan A Griffiths Antonio Scialdone John C Marioni |
| author_sort | Jonathan A Griffiths |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-99b2514a0d244de7ae36f90f736f5849 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1744-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecular Systems Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-99b2514a0d244de7ae36f90f736f58492025-08-20T03:46:32ZengSpringer NatureMolecular Systems Biology1744-42922018-04-0114411210.15252/msb.20178046Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisionsJonathan A Griffiths0Antonio Scialdone1John C Marioni2Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of CambridgeEMBL‐European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL‐EBI), Wellcome Genome CampusCancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of CambridgeAbstract 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.https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20178046cell fatedevelopmentdifferentiationsingle‐cell RNA‐seqtranscriptome |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan A Griffiths Antonio Scialdone John C Marioni Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions Molecular Systems Biology cell fate development differentiation single‐cell RNA‐seq transcriptome |
| title | Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions |
| title_full | Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions |
| title_fullStr | Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions |
| title_short | Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions |
| title_sort | using single cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions |
| topic | cell fate development differentiation single‐cell RNA‐seq transcriptome |
| url | https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20178046 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonathanagriffiths usingsinglecellgenomicstounderstanddevelopmentalprocessesandcellfatedecisions AT antonioscialdone usingsinglecellgenomicstounderstanddevelopmentalprocessesandcellfatedecisions AT johncmarioni usingsinglecellgenomicstounderstanddevelopmentalprocessesandcellfatedecisions |