Practice question

RNA sequencing aims to capture the transcriptome, the complete set of RNA molecules transcribed from genome at a given time. After isolating RNA and converting to cDNA library, deep parallel sequencing provides quantitative and qualitative information: abundance of transcripts, alternative splicing isoforms, allele-specific expression, fusion transcripts and non-coding RNAs. This enables comparison of gene expression across tissues, developmental stages or disease states. It is not designed for protein purification, direct DNA mutation screening independent of expression, or removal of splice sites. Transcriptome analysis is its primary biological purpose.