How super-specific sequencing can lead to new cancer treatments

Genome sequencing is a great way to figure out what’s going on in a given bodily tissue. But because tissues are made up of countless cells, the end result is a top-level average, blind to the subtle differences between individual cells.

But new technology promises to offer scientists a previously impossible glimpse at the inner workings of cells, STAT’s Meghana Keshavanreports. Called single-cell sequencing, it works like it sounds: Scientists can isolate cells and test them for certain genetic signatures, potentially lighting the way to super-targeted treatments for a host of disease.

“Imagine you were a biologist and didn’t have a microscope — and then I handed you one for the first time,” said Dr. Sam Behjati, a pediatric oncologist and single-cell researcher at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Britain. “That’s how profound single-cell sequencing is.”

Read more.