This phenomenon came to light with the advent of technologies, such as MS2 tagging and single molecule RNA fluorescence in situ hybridisation, to detect RNA production in single cells, through precise measurements of RNA number or RNA appearance at the gene. 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. Observed at an individual cell level, transcription is irregular, with strong periods of activity interspersed by long periods of inactivity.