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The devil in the details of RNA-seq

Nature Biotechnology volume 32, pages 882–884 (2014)Cite this article

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Large-scale consortium efforts provide a thorough understanding of RNA-seq.

RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is a versatile and powerful tool for quantitatively measuring gene expression, detecting splice variants and single-nucleotide variations, and discovering novel coding and noncoding transcripts and fusion genes. Thus far, however, our understanding of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of RNA-seq protocols and technologies has been lacking, especially in comparison to older, more established technologies such as microarrays. In this issue, the Sequencing Quality Control (SEQC)/Microarray Quality Control (MAQC)-III Consortium1,2,3 and the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF)4 report results from systematic large-scale experiments and analysis to elucidate the performance characteristics of RNA-seq and differences from previous technologies, different sources of measurement noise, and effects of data analysis and interpretation.

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Figure 1: Combinations of input RNA, library preparation protocols and sequencing technology generate different read output.

References

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  1. Division of Genomic Technologies, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, Yokohama, Japan

    Anton Kratz & Piero Carninci

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  1. Anton Kratz
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  2. Piero Carninci
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Correspondence to Anton Kratz or Piero Carninci.

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Kratz, A., Carninci, P. The devil in the details of RNA-seq. Nat Biotechnol 32, 882–884 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3015

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