Genomic Cytometry is a newly emerging field of single cell analysis that utilizes highly sensitive genomic methods to deeply characterize individual cells. Just as the field of fluorescent cytometry uses fluorochromes and mass cytometry utilizes metal isotope tagged antibodies as reporters; the field of genomic cytometry uses nucleotide sequences to characterize individual cells.

Importantly, many emerging techniques are allowing for the simultaneous detection of multiple analyte classes at the same time, this is the area of Genomic cytometry known as single‐cell multiomics.

Genomic cytometry is a young field and despite some challenges, there is an emerging trend to implement Genomic Cytometry workflows into the cytometry shared resource laboratory. Provided side‐by‐side with traditional cytometry, Genomic Cytometry is rapidly becoming an invaluable tool when applied with care to a suitable biological question. Importantly, due to its ability to sequence cell intrinsic features (such as RNA and DNA), it can be applied across many areas of biological investigation. In addition to its wide use in mammalian systems, it has also been applied to the study of biodiversity in aquatic and plant science.

Thus, Genomic Cytometry can be used to sequence a cells intrinsic DNA (1, 2) or to determine the expression of genes at the RNA level through scRNA‐seq (3-5). It is, however, not restricted to the direct sequencing of captured cellular DNA or RNA. Detection systems have been designed to determine protein expression (6-8) and for chromatin analysis (9-11). Increasingly, Genomic Cytometry methods that allow for simultaneous detection of DNA, RNA, protein, or epigenetic mechanisms are being developed and utilized (12, 13).

Alongside existing methodologies, Genomic Cytometry is providing insight into many aspects of life as we know it. With its origins in plate‐based single cell sorting, Genomic Cytometry has emerged and grown to now include a vast array of microfluidics based high‐throughput assays. While facilitated by the development of molecular workflows capable of amplifying the transcriptome of single cells (14), the field has expanded and now includes the ability to analyze DNA, RNA, and proteins. Furthermore, it is also possible to obtain multiomics information preserving the histological location of cells and their relationship within cellular niches (15-18) and to detect intracellular antigens alongside scRNA‐seq (19).

Genomic Cytometry is providing paradigm‐shifting capabilities in single cell analysis. It has rapidly gained favor among cell biologist looking to deeply interrogate biology at the single cell resolution and has been used to answer an array of questions including those around cellular heterogeneity, cell–cell communication, deciphering development trajectories, and drug susceptibility. It has been leveraged into major international research efforts such as the Human Cell Atlas (20), the Mouse Cell Atlas (21), Tabula Muris consortium (22), Allen Brain Atlas (23), and the Plant Cell Atlas (24).

Cytometry is a field that proudly embraces the need for a multidisciplinary approach. Genomic Cytometry builds workflows that combines the traditionally discrete fields of Microfluidics, Cytometry, Genomics, and Informatics. This multidisciplinary approach is a hallmark of Genomic Cytometry and is highlighted in Figure 1. It is only when these modalities are combined with the expertise to leverage these modalities that the true power of Genomic Cytometry is realized.

As with all new fields, Genomic Cytometry has a steep learning curve and while many newer commercial offerings are effectively lowering the bar to entry and democratizing access to this incredible capability, it is important to understand the origins of the field. Beginning with relatively low throughput assays, the field has grown at a near exponential rate since 2009 (25). The rate of development has been a double‐edged sword; however, the field is rapidly maturing, the technology ecosystems have mostly been defined, and approaches are beginning to be standardized.

This special section on genomic cytometry celebrates the contribution it is making and contains two reviews articles. The first article by Salomon et al. (Please add pp xy) is a technology review that focuses on applications in mammalian systems. The article takes a broad view of the field of genomic cytometry. Through a deep dive into the systems and tools available, it compartmentalizes these into categories that should aid technology‐based discussions in the field of single cell genomics and genomics cytometry. It is expected that the article will assist new users to become familiar with the various methodological approaches available and to help researchers choose the correct tools to answer specific biological questions.

The second manuscript by Iqbal and colleagues (Please add pp yx) provides an overview of the application of single cell transcriptomics and genomic cytometry in plant systems. This article takes the reader on a journey that highlights the intrinsic difficulties when dealing with plant cells, and how the field is contributing to the knowledge based of a variety of plant species.

From these articles, it is clear that Genomic Cytometry has developed into a valuable approach and an additional tool for the cytometerist looking to push the dimensionality boundaries. It is helping researchers to get closer to the ideal of fully characterizing every single cell in a living organism. Given the technology developments in this field over the past 5 years, we are excited to see what developments will occur in the next five.

基因组细胞术是一个新兴的单细胞分析领域，它利用高度敏感的基因组方法来深入表征单个细胞。正如荧光细胞计数领域使用荧光染料，而质谱流式细胞术使用金属同位素标记的抗体作为报告基因；基因组细胞计数领域使用核苷酸序列来表征单个细胞。

重要的是，许多新兴技术允许同时检测多种分析物类别，这就是称为单细胞多组学的基因组细胞计数领域。

基因组细胞术是一个年轻的领域，尽管存在一些挑战，但在细胞术共享资源实验室中实施基因组细胞术工作流程是一个新兴趋势。与传统的细胞术并排提供，当小心应用于合适的生物学问题时，基因组细胞术正迅速成为一种无价的工具。重要的是，由于它能够对细胞内在特征（如 RNA 和 DNA）进行测序，因此它可以应用于生物学研究的许多领域。除了在哺乳动物系统中广泛使用外，它还被应用于水生和植物科学中的生物多样性研究。

因此，基因组细胞术可用于对细胞内在 DNA 进行测序 ( 1, 2 ) 或通过 scRNA-seq 在 RNA 水平上确定基因的表达 ( 3-5 )。然而，它不限于捕获的细胞 DNA 或 RNA 的直接测序。检测系统设计用于确定蛋白质表达 ( 6-8 ) 和染色质分析 ( 9-11 )。越来越多地，允许同时检测 DNA、RNA、蛋白质或表观遗传机制的基因组细胞计数方法正在被开发和使用 ( 12, 13 )。

除了现有的方法外，基因组细胞术还提供了对我们所知的生活的许多方面的洞察。基因组细胞计数法起源于基于平板的单细胞分选，现已出现并发展到现在包括大量基于微流体的高通量检测。虽然能够放大单细胞转录组的分子工作流程的发展促进了这一领域 ( 14 )，但该领域已经扩展，现在包括分析 DNA、RNA 和蛋白质的能力。此外，还可以获得多组学信息，保留细胞的组织学位置及其在细胞壁龛内的关系 ( 15-18 )，并与 scRNA-seq 一起检测细胞内抗原 ( 19 )。

基因组细胞术在单细胞分析中提供范式转换功能。它在希望以单细胞分辨率深入研究生物学的细胞生物学家中迅速获得青睐，并已被用于回答一系列问题，包括细胞异质性、细胞间通讯、破译发育轨迹和药物敏感性等问题。它已被用于主要的国际研究工作，如人类细胞图谱 ( 20 )、小鼠细胞图谱 ( 21 )、Tabula Muris 联盟 ( 22 )、艾伦脑图谱 ( 23 ) 和植物细胞图谱 ( 24 )。

细胞计量学是一个自豪地接受多学科方法需求的领域。基因组细胞术构建的工作流程结合了微流体学、细胞术、基因组学和信息学等传统的离散领域。这种多学科方法是基因组细胞术的标志，并在图 1 中突出显示。只有当这些模式与专业知识相结合以利用这些模式时，才能实现基因组细胞术的真正力量。

与所有新领域一样，基因组细胞术具有陡峭的学习曲线，虽然许多较新的商业产品有效地降低了进入门槛并使获得这种令人难以置信的能力的大众化，但了解该领域的起源很重要。从相对低通量的检测开始，该领域自 2009 年以来以近乎指数的速度增长 ( 25 )。发展速度是一把双刃剑；然而，该领域正在迅速成熟，技术生态系统已基本确定，方法开始标准化。

这个关于基因组细胞计数的特别部分庆祝它所做的贡献，并包含两篇评论文章。Salomon 等人的第一篇文章。（请添加pp xy）是一篇专注于哺乳动物系统应用的技术评论。这篇文章对基因组细胞计数领域进行了广泛的介绍。通过深入研究可用的系统和工具，它将这些划分为有助于单细胞基因组学和基因组学细胞计数领域基于技术的讨论的类别。预计本文将帮助新用户熟悉各种可用的方法论方法，并帮助研究人员选择正确的工具来回答特定的生物学问题。

Iqbal 及其同事的第二份手稿（请添加 pp yx）概述了单细胞转录组学和基因组细胞计数在植物系统中的应用。本文将带领读者踏上一段旅程，重点介绍处理植物细胞时的内在困难，以及该领域如何为基于各种植物物种的知识做出贡献。

从这些文章中，很明显，基因组细胞术已经发展成为一种有价值的方法，也是细胞计数仪寻求突破维度界限的额外工具。它正在帮助研究人员更接近于完全表征生物体中每个细胞的理想状态。鉴于过去 5 年该领域的技术发展，我们很高兴看到未来五年会发生什么发展。