Joe Caspermeyer, Media Relations Manager & Science Editor
(480) 727-0369 | joseph.caspermeyer@asu.edu
August 20, 2008
NIH grant continues development of low cost, DNA sequencing technologies
Imagine going into the doctor’s office for your yearly physical, only instead of a routine blood test, you could order a complete work up of your DNA.
Such a scenario may become a reality thanks to the National Institutes of Health’s continued funding of DNA sequencing research at ASU’s Biodesign Institute.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the NIH, awarded more than $20 million in grants to develop innovative sequencing technologies. The goal is to make the technology inexpensive and efficient enough to sequence a person’s DNA as a routine part of biomedical research and health care.
“The ability to comprehensively sequence any person’s genome is the type of quantum leap needed to usher in an age of personalized medicine where healthcare providers can use an individual’s genetic code to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases” said Dr. Alan E. Guttmacher, MD, acting director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Among the awardees was Biodesign Institute researcher Stuart Lindsay, who will continue development of next-generation sequencing technologies to cut the cost of whole-genome sequencing to $1,000 or less.
“The Human Genome Project took 10 years to complete and cost billions of dollars. Scientists need to reduce the cost and time required by many orders of magnitude to benefit human health. The DNA sequencing technology program at the NHGRI has allowed us to explore a very different route to high-speed sequencing” said Lindsay, an ASU Regents’ Professor in physics and chemistry and the Edward and Nadine Carson Presidential Chair in Physics. Lindsay directs the Center for Single Molecule Biophysics at the Biodesign Institute.
Genomes R Us
Lindsay was one of eight investigators to develop revolutionary technologies that might make it possible to sequence a genome for $1,000.
“There has been substantial progress made to sequencing technologies over the past decade,” said Jeffery Schloss, Ph.D., NHGRI’s program director for technology development. “We continue to seek further improvements to enable routine sequencing of genomes to advance scientific knowledge and healthcare.”
DNA sequencing costs have fallen dramatically over the past decade, fueled in large part by tools, technologies and process improvements developed as part of the successful effort to sequence the human genome.
However, it took two multi-billion dollar efforts to sequence the DNA genomes of the first two individuals on the planet: DNA co-discoverer James Watson, PhD, and the leader of the private Human Genome Project venture, J. Craig Venter. In an effort to help gain acceptance of DNA sequencing, they have bared their genetic code to the world.But tomake genome sequencing a routine part of personalized medicine, breakthrough innovations are needed.
Sequencing by recognition
Lindsay’s s approach could sequence DNA at a speed of hundreds to thousands of bases per second. It involves using nanostructures to read the electrical current through DNA bases, thereby identifying the sequence.
The DNA is passed through a tiny hole, a nanopore, and past a ‘reader,’ which recognizes one of the four DNA bases. The full DNA sequence would be assembled by combining the readouts from four different DNA readers.
A DNA speed reader
During the coming year for the $370,000 award, Lindsay and his team, including Research professors Jin He and Peiming Zhang will undertake a collective approach will incorporate many complementary elements that integrate biochemistry, chemistry and physics with nanotechnology to develop a radical ‘”sequencing by recognition” strategy to breakthrough the DNA sequencing cost bottleneck.
“The key to quantifying the complete genetic picture of the 7 billion or so human genomes will be to develop a vanguard technology to make much longer DNA sequencing reads than are currently possible,” said Lindsay.
In concept, the Lindsay’s solution would work somewhat like a supermarket scanner —only shrunk down to the nanoscale— to read genomic DNA at a speed of hundreds to thousands of bases per second. It involves using nanostructures to read the electrical current through DNA bases, thereby identifying the sequence.
The DNA is passed through a tiny hole, a nanopore, and past a ‘reader,’ which recognizes one of the four DNA bases. The full DNA sequence would be assembled by combining the readouts from four different DNA readers.
If successful, during the second stage of the project, Lindsay’s team plans to develop a preliminary prototype of the high-speed DNA reader.
The latest DNA sequencing award complements a three-year, $890,000 award Lindsay received from the NHGRI in 2007. Lindsay’s effort also joins two other ASU research teams, led by Biodesign’sPeiming Zhang and colleague JianGu and Peter Williams, who have more than $3 million in other DNA sequencing projects funded by the NHGRI.
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