Single Cell Genome Sequencing Helps Identify the Root Cause of Many Chronic Diseases

 

Single cell sequencing is a new technology for amplifying and sequencing the DNA/RNA at the single cell level. It is used to study the sequence data obtained through next-gen sequencing of a single cell. Obtaining a single cell is of critical importance as individual cells can differ to a great extent in protein levels, size, and expressed RNA transcripts. These changes can provide important information about many research applications such as neurology, developmental biology, immunology, stem cell biology, and cancer research. Single cell sequencing examines sequence information from individual cells with optimized next-generation sequencing technologies to better understand the function of an individual cell. For instance, in cancer, sequencing may offer information about mutations carried out by small populations of cells.

This method has emerged as a robust tool, providing deep insights into genetics by analysis of genomes at the cellular level. This analysis takes a closer look at the gene expression of individual cells to understand their functions in complex tissues. Single cell sequencing has a great impact on various areas of biology such as neurology, microbiology, immunology, stem cell biology, and cancer research. A typical human cell consists of around 600 million bases of mRNA and 2 x 3.3 billion base pairs of DNA. Mixtures of millions of cells are commonly used in the sequencing of DNA/RNA using traditional methods such as Illumina sequencing or Sanger sequencing. Cellular functions can be extensively investigated using single cell sequencing.

Single cell sequencing typically consists of the following steps such as sequencing and bioinformatics data analysis, sequencing library preparation, nucleic acid amplification and extraction, and isolation of a single cell. Moreover, single cell sequencing is more challenging than sequencing from cells in bulk. Bulk genomics techniques have a major limitation, as an input, they require biomolecules that restrict the analysis of DNA or RNA isolated from a population of cells in a tissue. Technological platforms such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction, polymerase chain reaction, and next-generation sequencing provide high-throughput sequencing of individual cells.

Single cell genome sequencing is one of the most focused areas of ​​research to find a cure for chronic disorders such as cancer, as it can help to observe tumor microenvironment. Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, and is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018, according to the World Health Organization. Moreover, the rate of new cases of cancer is 442.4 per 100,000 men and women per year (based on 2013 - 2017 cases), while the death rate is 158.3 per 100,000 men and women per year. The introduction of new therapies for the treatment of cancer is expected to enhance the adaption of single cell genomic sequencing to advance research to observe changes in cellular levels in cancer cells. Single cell sequencing has evolved with an in-depth understanding of the genome and increasing genomic research to identify the root cause of many chronic diseases.