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, quan-tification of gene expression from specific alleles, and the future directions of cell lineage tracing and spatial gene expression analysis.
CITATION STYLE
Griffiths, J. A., Scialdone, A., & Marioni, J. C. (2018). Using single‐cell genomics to understand developmental processes and cell fate decisions. Molecular Systems Biology, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20178046
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