Transcriptomics technologies

Abstract

'Thomas Shafee'] Transcriptomics technologies are the techniques used to study an organism’s [transcriptome](), the sum of all of its [RNA transcripts](). The information content of an organism is recorded in the DNA of its [genome]() and [expressed]() through [transcription](). Here, [mRNA]() serves as a transient intermediary molecule in the information network, whilst [noncoding RNAs]() perform additional diverse functions. A transcriptome captures a snapshot in time of the total transcripts present in a [cell](). The first attempts to study the whole transcriptome began in the early 1990s, and technological advances since the late 1990s have made transcriptomics a widespread discipline. Transcriptomics has been defined by repeated technological innovations that transform the field. There are two key contemporary techniques in the field: [microarrays](), which quantify a set of predetermined sequences, and RNA sequencing ([RNA-Seq]()), which uses [high-throughput sequencing]() to capture all sequences. Measuring the expression of an organism’s [genes]() in different [tissues](), [conditions](), or time points gives information on how genes are [regulated]() and reveals details of an organism’s biology. It can also help to infer the [functions]() of previously [unannotated]() genes. Transcriptomic analysis has enabled the study of how gene expression changes in different organisms and has been instrumental in the understanding of human [disease](). An analysis of gene expression in its entirety allows detection of broad coordinated trends which cannot be discerned by more targeted [assays]().