Visualizing gene expression at the single cell, single chromosome, single RNA, and single base level

Marshall Levesque, Arjun Raj Biosearch Technologies Inc., United States of America

Abstract
We use fluorescence in situ hybridization to provide highly specific and direct detection of individual RNA molecules via fluorescence microscopy in their natural context in cells and tissues. This method enables absolute quantification of gene expression in single cells, and we discuss how to interpret these measurements. We highlight the detection and localization of long non-coding RNAs. We also have extended our assay to detect chromosome structure and gene expression at the same time, enabling per-chromosome transcriptional profiling. We also present a method that allows us to measure single-base differences on individual RNA molecules.