Biology 3.0: The Single-Cell (R)evolution

Understanding how cells make choices is one of the great challenges in biology. Whether it is the first cell divisions of embryonic development or activation in response to an immune stimulus, modern medicine has a great interest in how these decisions are made. This is particularly the case in regenerative medicine, where the aim is to create specific cell types for therapeutic applications. While the promise of cell therapies is enormous, most protocols don’t make it to clinic, fail in trials, or are not commercially viable, due to issues with efficacy, safety and scalability. New solutions are required to improve these outcomes.

Understanding cell regulatory pathways is one of the great challenges in biology. How do new technologies, like single-cell approaches, provide valuable insight and reduce guesswork in the future development of cell and gene therapies?