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Genetics

Taking single-cell transcriptomics to the bedside

Important biological questions can be addressed by interrogating the transcriptomes of cancer cells. In a recently published landmark study, Giustacchini and collaborators used a single-cell approach to analyse mRNA of cancer cells derived from patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia. Herein, we discuss how this approach could be used to address relevant clinical questions.

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Acknowledgements

S.B. receives funding support from the St Baldrick's Foundation and the Wellcome Trust (WT107931/Z/15/Z). M.H. receives funding support from the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, the National Institute for Health Research and Newcastle-Biomedical Research Centre, and the Wellcome Trust (WT107931/Z/15/Z).

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Correspondence to Sam Behjati or Muzlifah Haniffa.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Behjati, S., Haniffa, M. Taking single-cell transcriptomics to the bedside. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 14, 590–592 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2017.117

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