Fig 1. Schematic of the General mRNAseq Process.

There are three main steps depicted here, from top to bottom. First is obtaining RNA samples, which contain full length transcripts. Different samples are denoted by different color circles, and transcripts by straight lines within those circles. We highlight one transcript blue to enable following it through the process. Next, library preparation converts the transcripts in each sample to a library of fragments that can be sequenced. Finally, the libraries are sequenced by choosing fragments from the library, and the number of reads that align to particular transcripts are counted for the readout of expression.