Fluorescent In Situ Sequencing (FISSEQ) of RNA molecules in cultured human fibroblasts

In this animated image, each frame represents a cycle of sequencing and each dot represents a single RNA molecule in a cell. The color of a dot indicates the RNA base identified during the cycle, so that the series of colors seen over the course of the animation reads off a small segment of the RNA's sequence. Because each cell's RNA profile can be seen separately, FISSEQ makes it possible to see differences in cell types and behaviors with cultured cells and complex tissue samples.
(Images courtesy of the Church lab.)