Table 3.

Summary of single-cell RNA sequencing technologies

scRNA-Seq technology	Transcript coverage	Amplification method	UMI	ERCC	Ref
Tang method	Full length	PCR	No	Yes	[22]
Smart-seq / seq2	Full length	TS-PCR	No	Yes	[28,29]
CEL-seq /seq2	3’-end	IVT	Yes	Yes	[23,24]
STRT-seq / seq2	5’-end	TS-PCR	Yes	Yes	[26,27]
MARS-seq	3’-end	IVT	Yes	Yes	[25]
Cyto-seq	3’-end	GS-PCR	Yes	No	[12]
Drop-seq	3’-end	TS-PCR	Yes	No	[134]
InDrop-seq	3’-end	IVT	Yes	No	[135]
SPLiT-seq	3’-end	TS-PCR	Yes	No	[14]
sci-RNA-seq	3’-end	TS-PCR	Yes	No	[15]
SEQ-well	3’-end	TS-PCR	Yes	Yes	[13]
Quartz-seq1 / seq2	3’-end	PCR	No	Yes	[136]

TS: template switch; IVT: vitro transcription; ERCC: External RNA Control Consortium; UMI: unique molecular identifier. ERCC controls are RNA transcripts with known sequences and quantity that are applied to calibrate the measurements of RNA expression. UMIs are DNA sequences used to label each individual transcript within a cell during reverse transcription in order to estimate absolute molecular counts.