NEW YORK – In 2017, Luciano Martelotto was trying to solve a riddle. He wanted to sequence RNA in single pancreas cells, but the organ, which produces digestive enzymes, was filled with RNases that could ruin the very molecules he was hoping to study.
Cells, he decided, would not do, but isolated nuclei might. 10x Genomics had a so-called "demonstrated protocol" for isolating peripheral blood mononuclear cell nuclei, so he tried throwing his pancreas samples into it.