▁In ▁contrast ▁with ▁the ▁statistical ▁framework ▁of ▁the ▁methods ▁described ▁above , ▁this ▁coefficient ▁may ▁be ▁more ▁robust ▁to ▁noise ▁and ▁is ▁intuit ively ▁interpre table ▁in ▁terms ▁of ▁B ates onian ▁ep istas is . ▁This ▁approach ▁was ▁used ▁to ▁identify ▁a ▁new ▁state ▁in ▁the ▁life ▁cycle ▁of ▁the ▁n emat ode ▁C . ▁eleg ans . ▁ ▁App lications ▁ ▁P ert urb - seq ▁or ▁other ▁concept ually ▁similar ▁protocol s ▁can ▁be ▁used ▁to ▁address ▁a ▁broad ▁scope ▁of ▁bi ological ▁questions ▁and ▁the ▁applications ▁of ▁this ▁technology ▁will ▁likely ▁grow ▁over ▁time . ▁Three ▁papers ▁on ▁this ▁topic , ▁published ▁in ▁the ▁December ▁ 2 0 1 6 ▁issue ▁of ▁the ▁Journal ▁Cell , ▁demonstrated ▁the ▁utility ▁of ▁this ▁method ▁by ▁applying ▁it ▁to ▁the ▁investigation ▁of ▁several ▁distinct ▁bi ological ▁functions . ▁In ▁the ▁paper , ▁“ P ert urb - Seq : ▁Dis sect ing ▁M ole cular ▁Circ uits ▁with ▁S cal able ▁Single - Cell ▁R NA ▁Profil ing ▁of ▁P oo led ▁Gen etic ▁S creens ”, ▁the ▁authors ▁used ▁P ert urb - seq ▁to ▁conduct ▁knock outs ▁of ▁trans cription ▁factors ▁related ▁to ▁the ▁imm une ▁response ▁in ▁hundreds ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁cells ▁to ▁investigate ▁the ▁cell ular ▁consequences ▁of ▁their ▁in activ ation . ▁They ▁also ▁expl ored ▁the ▁effects ▁of ▁trans cription ▁factors ▁on ▁cell ▁states ▁in ▁the ▁context ▁of ▁the ▁cell ▁cycle . ▁In ▁the ▁study ▁led ▁by ▁U CS F , ▁“ A ▁Multi plex ed