Sample preparation

With over 40 trillion cells in the human body and hundreds of cell types, cells have nevertheless traditionally been studied using bulk methods at the cell population or tissue level rather than single-cell level. However, the field of genomics and computational biology has progressed immensely over the last decade and new single-cell genomics approaches and techniques are advancing our understanding of human disease and many other biological problems.

Following the emergence of next-generation sequencing (NGS), high-throughput genomics and transcriptomics measurements using DNA and RNA sequencing developed rapidly. Single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) has also provided new insight into gene expression and epigenetic mechanisms behind important biological processes.

Sample preparation is a significant yet underappreciated step that allows for high-quality sequencing and single-cell analysis, which is critical to achieving breakthroughs in medicine, agriculture, and other industries.

Microfluidic cell sorters and hands-off tissue dissociators allow the cell’s integrity to be maintained for numerous sequencing and multi-omics techniques.