We are exploring the DNA, RNA and epigenetic features of single cells in order to better understand normal biology and disease.
Single-cell genomics is the next frontier in molecular biology, offering unprecedented access to study how genetic variability and gene expression impacts on individual cells and cell types. Novel technologies and methods allow us to isolate and analyse the limited genetic material present within a single cell, enabling us to gain a whole-genome view of genetic variability and gene expression at single-cell level.
This field of research is opening up developmental and disease biology. For example, this approach can identify distinct sub-populations of cells within a tumour and reveal how they contribute to cancer development. However, there are significant technical and computational challenges to overcome before this type of research can be carried out in a routine, robust and high-throughput manner.
