Quantification of mRNA in single cells and modelling of RT-qPCR induced noise

Abstract
Gene expression has a strong stochastic element resulting in highly variable mRNA levels between individual cells, even in a seemingly homogeneous cell population. Access to fundamental information about cellular mechanisms, such as correlated gene expression, motivates measurements of multiple genes in individual cells. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) is the most accessible method which provides sufficiently accurate measurements of mRNA in single cells.