Analyzing individual cells allows researchers to distinguish between a uniform population of cells (above left) and a group of cells with members having, say, different protein content (above right). The ability to recognize such differences could be essential to understanding diseases such as cancer or diabetes.
Credit: Elaine Kurie
Norman Dovichi believes that detecting minute differences between individual cells could improve medical tests and treatments.
This article is one in a series of 10 stories we're running this week covering today's most significant emerging technologies. It's part of our annual "10 Emerging Technologies" report, which appears in the March/April print issue of Technology Review.
We all know that focusing on the characteristics of a group can obscure the differences between the individuals in it. Yet when it comes to biological cells, scientists typically derive information about their behavior, status, and health from the collective activity of thousands or millions of them. A more precise understanding of differences between individual cells could lead to better treatments for cancer and diabetes, just for starters.
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