Single Mammalian Cell Gene Expression Analysis Using Microfluidics

Single cell gene expression studies hold great promise for deciphering the ubiquitous heterogeneity present in biological organisms. Although much progress has been made in the field, tools to study gene expression (specific and global) in single cells are generally lacking. This thesis describes the development of novel microfluidic technologies and processes capable of processing single cells to first strand cDNA in a parallel fashion, thereby filling a void in the single cell biology field. The author then utilizes the technology to probe for transcriptional noise in ubiquitous genes present in single mammalian cells. The noise measured far exceeds any measurement reported to this date, and was shown to be attenuated during the G2 stage of the cell cycle. The work presented here is first hand proof that technological innovation is a key component in undertaking novel science.