Video: 'Mapping' the body with single-cell RNA sequencing

While nearly every cell in the body contains identical genetic instructions packaged in DNA, there is flexibility on how that genetic information is expressed and in turn translated through RNA to create proteins, the building blocks of life.

In the past decade, one technology in particular has allowed researchers to shine a light on how individual cells, even cells belonging to the same tissue, vary from one another. Single-cell RNA sequencing allows scientists to capture unique gene expression information in dozens, hundreds, or even hundreds of thousands of cells. Learn how Whitehead Institute scientists are applying this technology to a variety of model organisms to uncover a rich diversity of cells.