The race for the thousand-dollar genome: the finish line is getting closer
Personal genome for $5,000 in three minutesAt the annual conference Advances in Genome Biology and Technology, dedicated to the latest advances in genome research technologies, scientists were presented with third-generation genome sequencing technologies, designed, according to the developers, to sequence the human genome in 3 minutes, while the cost of the work will be only $ 5,000.
Complete Genomics SequencersBack in October last year, Complete Genomics announced that the technologies it developed would allow sequencing the human genome for $5,000 this year, but did not provide any evidence.
At a conference held at the beginning of February this year on Marco Island, Florida, Complete Genomics presented the results of successful sequencing of the human genome, which took only 8 days and was carried out using the simultaneous operation of 9 devices.
The Complete Genomics sequencing technology allows 254 billion DNA base pairs to be sequenced, which is an absolute record today. According to the company's president Clifford Reid, each DNA base in the human genome is "read" up to 91 times on average. Multiple sequencing of each base can significantly reduce the likelihood of possible errors. The accuracy of the new technology is very high: the probability of an error in one DNA base is no more than one third of a percent, which is comparable to the accuracy of the most modern sequencers.
Complete Genomics does not sell sequencers, but conducts sequencing on its equipment in the company's building.
The main commercial guidelines for the creation of a new technology at Complete Genomics were the speed and low cost of sequencing. It is expected that by June of this year, the cost of reagents for sequencing one genome will cost no more than $ 1,000. Commercial sequencing will become available in March this year. The company plans to sequence up to 1,000 genomes this year and 20,000 human genomes next year.
Pacific Biosciences SequencersPacific Biosciences has sequenced the genome of the Escherichia coli bacterium using the new SMRT (Single Molecule RealTime) technology.
The sequencer of this company allows you to "read" each DNA base up to 38 times on average, and the accuracy of determining the DNA base is 99.9999%.
Pacific Biosciences sequencing technology is based on real-time sequencing of each molecule using DNA polymerase (a video illustrating the sequencing process is presented on the company's website). Despite the fact that now the speed of reading DNA molecules using Pacific Biosciences sequencers is 3 DNA bases per second, the company hopes that by 2013 the entire human genome can be sequenced in 3 minutes.
When sequencing the Escherichia coli genome, the average length of the sequenced DNA was 586 bases, the longest was 2805 bases. Currently, the company is developing a technique that will allow sequencing longer DNA sequences. Some scientists hope that sequencing longer sections of the genome will help reduce the likelihood of errors and will allow us to identify areas of the genome that are difficult to sequence.
Pacific Biosciences plans to start commercial operations at the end of next year.
Sequencers of other companiesModern sequencing technologies implemented by companies such as Illumina, Applied Biosystems and Roche allow you to get results with amazing speed – the amount of DNA sequenced in a few days is comparable to several human genomes.
The trend is as follows: the sequencing rate is increasing, prices are falling. For example, Illumina promises that by the end of this year, sequencing of the human genome will cost only $ 10,000.
As it turned out, not all companies offering sequencing services are doing so smoothly. Third-generation sequencers manufactured by Helicos Biosciences of Cambridge in Massachusetts have received complaints about the low sequencing accuracy. Shortly before the start of the conference, one of the first buyers of new sequencers from Helicos Biosciences of Cambridge returned the device to the manufacturer. Speaking at the conference, representatives of the company said that they had succeeded in sequencing the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. However, the return of the sequencer and the high cost of reagents and apparatus (recently reduced to $ 999,999, despite the fact that the average price of similar equipment is about half a million dollars) have reduced the interest of scientists in the sequencers of this company.
William Eftsavich, a leading technologist at Helicos Biosciences of Cambridge, considers the rumors about the company's failure to be greatly exaggerated. Many scientists share Eftsavich's opinion and express the hope that Helicos Biosciences of Cambridge and other companies will continue to compete for greater sequencer performance at lower prices. According to Rick Myers, director of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Alabama, "a situation of healthy competition has been created in the sequencing technology market. The fact that we can now sequence up to 80 million DNA sequences in a few days is like a miracle."
Eternal MindPortal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru 11.02.2009