Nature Methods has published a short article (here) reviewing the current state of "next-next" (third?) generation sequencing technologies.
The main points they touch on include:
- The Heliscope from Helicos, no real new information, just about how advanced single molecule systems are. Oh and that you'll need 14 TB of storage per run!
- Visigen's FRET-based technology, which relies on FRET between fluorophores on the polymerase and dNTP to produce a real-time "movie" of base incorporation from a single reagent injection. Pretty awesome stuff.
- Steven Block's (Stanford) method of sequencing via "nanomechanical" properties of DNA-polymerase interactions. His group has built sensors that can detect the motion of a single protein molecule; in this case it is used to measure the movement of a polymerase along a template. By limiting nucleotides and calculating based on where the enzyme pauses, the sequence can be ascertained.
- New York-based Reveo has developed a "nano-knife edge probe" which basically drags across the DNA seeking a specific electrical signal from a specific base. (Remember, I'm a biologist, not a physicist! ) Multiple parallel probes can determine all bases.
- The usual short mention of nanopore sequencing, which is similar to the previous method but the pores are stationary and the DNA moves through the nanopore for probing.
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