UK scientists are developing a technology that can decode a person's genome in minutes, at a cost that is much less than the cost of commercial methods that exist today
Scientists from the United Kingdom are developing a technology that can decode the genome of any person in minutes, and at a cost that is much less than the cost of commercial methods that exist today.
The researchers have filed a patent on an earlier technology that is a prototype, and which they believe could lead to the development of a commercial and extremely fast means of sequencing DNA within a decade. The research was described in an article published in the scientific journal Nano Letters.
The researchers claim that scientists will be able, at the end of development, to perform DNA sequencing of the entire genome in a single laboratory procedure, while today this is only possible after a complex and lengthy process. The fast and cheap floor of the complete genome will allow every person to decipher the northern secrets in their DNA, and discover their unique susceptibility to diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer. Medical professionals are already using genome sequencing in order to understand health issues among large populations and to develop individual treatments for each and every person in a unique way.
Dr. Joshua Edel, one of the authors of the article from the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London explains: "Compared to existing technologies, our device will allow a much cheaper floor: a few dollars compared to a million dollars for the floor of the entire genome that was carried out in 2007. Admittedly, we have not yet attempted to perform the floor of a genome full, but our initial experiments suggest that it would theoretically be possible to complete a scan of 3165 million bases of the human genome in minutes, with great utility for medical testing, or for obtaining DNA profiles for the police and other security agencies. The device should be significantly faster and more reliable, and as such it can easily be adapted to a commercial device that can read 10 million bases per second, compared to the current rate of 10 bases per second that exists today."
In their new study, the scientists demonstrated that it is possible to move a DNA helix at high speed through a tiny nanometer hole (with a diameter of 50 nanometers) - or nanohole - found in a piece of iron, using an electric charge. When the helix exits from the back of the chip, its DNA coding sequence (the bases A, C, T and G) is called a "tunneling electrode junction". This 2 nanometer gap between two wires produces an electrical current that reacts uniquely with each of the electrical signals inherent in each and every base. In the next step, a powerful computer is able to decipher the signals of the cipher bases and assemble from them the complete sequence of the genome.
The floor using nano-nozzles has long been considered the next big development in DNA technologies, thanks to the ability of the nozzles to perform the floor very quickly and with a large capacity. However, a demonstration of such a method has not been published so far.
One of the research partners explains the challenges they faced: "Transferring the DNA helix through the nanohole is similar to sucking an elongated spaghetti. Until now it has been very difficult to align the junction of the electrode and the nanopore into a suitable arrangement. Beyond that, the preparation of the electrode wires in these dimensions approaches the edge of their atomic limit. Despite these challenges, in our experiment we were able to prepare two tiny platinum wires located at an electrode junction with a gap that is small enough to allow the electric current to pass between them."
This method will have a number of clear advantages compared to current methods, explains one of the researchers: "The floor using nano-nozzles will be a quick and simple procedure, and this is in contrast to existing commercial methods that require the occurrence of destructive and prolonged chemical reactions in order to break down and accurately replicate small sections of the DNA molecule in order to decipher the sequence. In addition, these pieces of iron are much more stable than some of the delicate materials used today in the existing methods. They can be used, washed and recycled many times without damaging their activity."
The next step will be to differentiate between different DNA samples, and eventually, between different bases within the DNA coil.
15 תגובות
Well, anyway thanks for replying 🙂
Who floored 23andme?
to Elijah
Please link to the original article:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl103873a
For a "regular visitor":
Although the title Dr. does appear before my name, I do not sit in the ivory tower.
Comments worthy of reference (like yours) do get a response from me.
In addition - the content of the articles originates from articles published online and translated by me, and I cannot be obligated and/or responsible for the truth/reliability of the content.
Dr. Moshe Nachmani, it's nice to see you come down to the people and respond to comments here from time to time, I've never seen you do that before. It's a shame that it doesn't happen a little more often, and not only for language corrections, but also for factual reference to the content of the article and the content of the comments, really it doesn't detract from anyone's dignity.
To respondent number 8:
According to the Hebrew Language Academy:
Dictionary of Biology (2009), XNUMX gene sequencing.
Can I please link to the original article?
Or at least his name...
the floor?
Regarding DNA, it is customary to say tiling...
On the other hand, according to the Ibn Shoshan dictionary:
A. Floor XNUMX (v.) [from wharf] [in shipping] the mooring of a ship next to the wharf.
Itzik, why are you surprised?
And all this without graphene?
A beautiful example of the accelerated (exponential) rate of development we saw in the project of cracking the human genome, after 7 years of research we cracked only 1% of the genome, the skeptics claimed that there was no chance of finishing the project in time, and although according to the rate of progress it seemed that the project would last hundreds of years, but of course the technology has been perfected , new tools were created, and the rate accelerated from year to year exponentially, 1% became 2%, which became 4%, which became 8%... And after 7 years, as expected, we reached 100% and the project was finished exactly on time.
I recommend checking the links I provided in the previous message.
People do not understand what an amazing time we live in, technology is going to change our lives completely in the coming decades, it is developing at a dizzying pace that only gets faster and faster year by year, this is in contrast to the linear view that most people intuitively have, which makes it difficult for them to see it.
The principle here is simple, new technologies are constantly being created which accelerate the rate of development more and more, it started with the printing and book revolution + the communication revolution and the ability to quickly spread and share ideas between people from all over the world, the industrial revolution, new and fast means of transportation (planes, cars) that made it possible Suddenly people can move quickly from place to place and meet with colleagues on the other side of the world who are working on similar issues. And of course continues today in a more dramatic way with the field of nanotechnology which is developing at a dizzying pace, the cracking of the human genome and the revolution of biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence and brain research, areas which are also gaining great momentum in recent years, the power of computers which is doubling from year to year and is the basis for many new studies and many simulations domains. And of course from the revolution of the Internet, thanks to which today all human knowledge is accessible to everyone with a few keystrokes, and in addition, scientists from all over the world who previously had never heard of or knew about each other can now find each other easily through the Internet and work together as a group on common issues, with each contributing their part and his news.
http://www.tapuz.co.il/Forums2008/ViewMsg.aspx?ForumId=716&MessageId=148002603&r=1
People do not understand what an amazing time we live in, but this understanding will come soon, even for those who prefer to close their eyes.
Recently, a fascinating course on biology was uploaded to the Internet:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=ACC83028E0CBD671
In one of the first lessons the lecturer claims that within a year it will be possible to sequence an entire human genome in about half an hour (and if I remember correctly also at a very low cost) I wonder what method he was talking about.
I'm already freaking out about how we'll feel ten or twenty years from now when we look back on all the hard lab hours we burned making a few single clones of a quarter sequence of a single gene. Those who were born late - earned
You can literally see our vision of Kurzwil come true before your eyes..it looks like the first phase of a fascinating decade