Total RNA / Poly(A) RNA / Small RNA sequencing

Overview:

RNA-seq measures the transcriptome to quantify gene expression, identify differentially expressed genes, detect alternative splicing, and characterize RNA isoforms. PolyA-enrichment captures mRNA, while rRNA depletion enables whole-transcriptome profiling, including non-coding RNAs and degraded samples such as FFPE. Illumina short-read sequencing is ideal for gene-level quantification (10–50 million reads/sample), while Oxford Nanopore long-read platforms allow full-length isoform sequencing and direct RNA modification detection. Input requirements range from 1 ng to >100 ng for standard kits. RNA-seq supports studies of disease signatures, pathway activation, drug response, immunology, host-pathogen interactions, and expression biomarker discovery. While bulk RNA-seq provides rich global gene expression profiles, it averages signals across all cells in a sample, missing cell-type-specific variation resolved by single-cell methods.

Workflow:

RNA extraction, rRNA depletion or poly(A) enrichment, library preparation, sequencing.