Other, more widespread techniques, such as Northern blotting, microarrays, RT-PCR and RNA-Seq, measure bulk RNA levels from homogenous population extracts.
These techniques lose dynamic information from individual cells and give the impression that transcription is a continuous smooth process.
[12] Bursts may also result from bursty signalling, cell cycle effects or movement of chromatin to and from transcription factories.
Suggested mechanisms by which noise can be dampened include strong extracellular signalling,[16] diffusion of RNA and protein in cell syncitia,[17] promoter proximal pausing,[18] and nuclear retention of transcripts.
[20] Variability also impacts upon the effectiveness of clinical treatment, with resistance of bacteria to antibiotics demonstrably caused by non-genetic differences.