From these talks arose a discussion of the various tools by which one could define cell states. There was general agreement that genome-wide transcription analysis, both of populations or cells, and particularly at the single-cell level to resolve heterogeneity, was highly informative. Moreover, genetic and epigenetic editing, combined with selective use of cell-line derivation methods, could be tailored to the unique requirements for mechanistic studies of any particular disorder. Finally, as one considers modeling neurological and psychiatric diseases, it is critical that the field as a whole establishes whether or not there is an ideal starting somatic cell type, reprogramming methodology, and/or pluripotency cell state from which to initiate hiPSC-based disease modeling experiments of brain disorders.
