Helicos Biosciences promises faster DNA sequencing via single-molecule sequencing:
The latest revolution in the rapidly moving field of genome sequencing is upon us — single-molecule sequencing. Last week, Helicos Biosciences, a genomics company based in Cambridge, MA, published the first scientific paper to describe the sequencing of a whole genome using this approach. Experts say single-molecule sequencing, which reads the sequence of a single fragment of DNA, will ultimately simplify and speed the sequencing process, which could in turn enable the advance of personalized medicine. “The bottom line is, if at the end of day if you can just put a single strand of DNA onto a platform and sequence it directly, it’s a huge advantage,” says Elaine R. Mardis, co-director of the genome center at Washington University in St. Louis.
(Hat tip to FuturePundit.)