A novel sequencing technology being developed by a Massachusetts startup allows scientists to take photographs of the sequence of a DNA molecule. William Glover, president of ZS Genetics, based in North Reading, MA, says that his approach will allow scientists to read long stretches of DNA, enabling the sequencing of hard-to-read areas, such as highly repetitive regions in plants and some parts of the human genome. Longer sequences also allow scientists to distinguish between maternal and paternal chromosomes, which might have important diagnostic applications.

Scientists at a recent sequencing conference in San Diego--where details of the technology were presented for the first time--were intrigued by the approach because it is totally different than even the newest methods on the market. "It's surprising and potentially very powerful," says Vladimir Benes, head of the Genomics Core Facility at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, in Germany.

The cost of DNA sequencing has plummeted since a working draft of the human genome was completed in 2001. Most of the newest technologies currently in use generate very short sequences, about 30 to 150 base pairs, which are then stitched together with special software. But this method doesn't always capture all the information in the genome, and some parts of the genome are difficult to sequence this way, says Glover.   Read More...