Figure 2.

Droplet encapsulation of single cells with a microfluidic device. Single cells viewed as a complex heterogeneous population of individual cells interacting with each other and expressing different sets of transcripts. Single cells are loaded for encapsulation in a microfluidics device. The phase containing the cell suspension is squeezed by two oil flows that detach microdroplets containing single cells. Each droplet is a microreactor where reactions are confined. Single-cell transcriptome studies yield profiles to infer the cell type, the cell state, or the regulatory gene network active in the cell.