Comparison of algorithms used in single-cell transcriptomic data analysis

Abstract

Single-cell analysis is an increasingly relevant approach in "omics'' studies. In the last decade, it has been applied to various fields, including cancer biology, neuroscience, and, especially, developmental biology. This rise in popularity has been accompanied with creation of modern software, development of new pipelines and design of new algorithms. Many established algorithms have also been applied with varying levels of effectiveness. Currently, there is an abundance of algorithms for all steps of the general workflow. While some scientists use ready-made pipelines (such as Seurat), manual analysis is popular, too, as it allows more flexibility. Scientists who perform their own analysis face multiple options when it comes to the choice of algorithms. We have used two different datasets to test some of the most widely-used algorithms. In this paper, we are going to report the main differences between them, suggest a minimal number of algorithms for each step, and explain our suggestions. In certain stages, it is impossible to make a clear choice without further context. In these cases, we are going to explore the major possibilities, and make suggestions for each one of them.