This is the same image as image 2, except here adding in the colored DNA barcode spots demonstrating the “reading” of barcodes to identify which cell had which gene knocked out.

The goal of the experiment that all of these images came from was to profile thousands of genes known to be “essential” for the growth of human cell lines, looking for those genes that are involved in cell division or the regulation of mitosis. These processes go awry in a variety of human diseases, in particular many types of cancer. Better understanding the molecular players in these processes will hopefully enable increased understanding of oncogenesis and potentially identify new therapeutic targets.