Analysis of gene expression in single cells

A cell's structural and functional characteristics are dependent on the spe cific complement of genes it expresses. The ability to study and compare ge ne usage at the cellular level will therefore provide valuable insights int o cell physiology. Such analyses are complicated by problems associated wit h sample collection, sample size and the limited sensitivity of expression assays. Advances have been made in approaches to the collection of cellular material and the performance of single-cell gene expression analysis. Rece nt developments in global amplification of mRNA may soon permit expression analyses of single cells to be performed on DNA microarrays.