Life Technologies Unveils Single Molecule Sequencing Technology01 Mar
Hot off the presses, Life Tech announced a single molecule sequencing technology using nanocrystals this morning at AGBT. Here’s the technology description in this morning’s press release:
The new technology uses Qdot(R) nanocrystals as its core sequencing
engine. Qdots are nanometer-sized semiconductor crystals that have made
them ideal for groundbreaking cellular imaging research and for the
detection of individual protein molecules. Compared to conventional
fluorescence detection with organic dye molecules, the Qdot approach
generates signals more than 100 times greater, enabling simple single
molecule detection. The SMS system uses specially designed sequencing
versions of these nanocrystals, attached to proprietary DNA polymerase
molecules.The system monitors the real time incorporation of nucleotides (the
building blocks of DNA) into individual growing DNA strands. As
nucleotides are incorporated, they are energized by photons transferred
from the Qdot nanocrystal, generating a characteristic colored flash of
fluorescence light. The prototype SMS system records the time and color
series of these light flashes to determine the DNA sequence of each
individual DNA strand. Uniquely, this approach looks for correlated
fluorescence flashes with Qdot signal decreases – a key feature that is
anticipated to improve the error profile of inherently noisy single
molecule data.Another unique aspect of the system is reagent exchange, where
individual Qdot polymerases and synthesized templates can be removed and
replaced with new ones. This enables immobilized individual DNA
templates to be sequenced several times in a recursive fashion, allowing
for highly accurate reads with minimal sample preparation. In addition,
reagent exchange enables linking together of multiple long reads to
enable virtually unlimited read lengths.
This new technology will complement Life Tech’s existing plays in SOLiD and capillary electrophoresis. Full press release at http://ir.lifetechnologies.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61498&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1396698.