New High-Speed Sequencing Technology

A new technology that offers the potential to rapidly decode extremely long, contiguous DNA sequences, up to entire genomes, has been awarded a US patent.

Called GeneEngine, the linear DNA analysis technology allows the reading of long, contiguous strands of DNA of up to several million base-pairs with ultra-high throughputs, says U.S. Genomics (Woburn, MA, USA), which developed the nanotechnology platform. Labeled sequences on the DNA strand move past a fixed point that reads and identifies the sequences in real-time. The system can generate genetic information in a way that is exponentially faster and more efficient. The newly issued patent contains more than 100 claims and cover methods and apparatus for elongating DNA polymers, detecting sequences of DNA, storing and analyzing genetic data, and analyzing multiple polymers in parallel.

"Our success to date in reading extraordinarily long DNA strands validates both our concept and the ability of our hardware to execute direct linear DNA readings,” said Eugene Chan, chairman and CEO of U.S. Genomics. "This core patent is a key milestone in our quest to achieve complete real-time human genome sequencing.”




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