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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
12:04
Microfluidic Picoliter Bioreactor for Microbial Single-cell Analysis: Fabrication, System Setup, and Operation
Published on: December 6, 2013
Genome sequencing in microfabricated high-density picolitre reactors.
Marcel Margulies1, Michael Egholm, William E Altman
1454 Life Sciences Corp., 20 Commercial Street, Branford, Connecticut 06405, USA.
Nature
|August 2, 2005
Summary
A new DNA sequencing system offers a 100-fold increase in throughput over Sanger sequencing. This scalable, parallel system achieves high accuracy for rapid genome sequencing, reducing time and cost.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Molecular Biology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Large-scale DNA sequencing projects necessitate faster and more cost-effective methods.
- Current sequencing technologies, like capillary electrophoresis, face limitations in throughput and cost.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a scalable, highly parallel DNA sequencing system.
- To significantly increase raw throughput and reduce sequencing time and cost.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a novel fiber-optic slide with individual wells for parallel processing.
- Developed an emulsion-based DNA amplification method.
- Implemented a pyrosequencing protocol optimized for solid support and picolitre volumes for sequencing by synthesis.
Main Results:
- Achieved raw throughput significantly greater than state-of-the-art capillary electrophoresis instruments.
- Sequenced 25 million bases with 99% or better accuracy in a four-hour run.
- Demonstrated utility, throughput, accuracy, and robustness by shotgun sequencing and de novo assembly of the Mycoplasma genitalium genome with 96% coverage at 99.96% accuracy in one run.
Conclusions:
- The developed system offers a substantial advancement in DNA sequencing throughput and efficiency.
- This technology provides a robust and accurate solution for large-scale genomics projects.
- The system has the potential to significantly reduce the time and cost associated with DNA sequencing.
Related Concept Videos
03:00Next-generation Sequencing
The first human genome sequencing project cost $2.7 billion and was declared complete in 2003, after 15 years of international cooperation and collaboration between several research teams and funding agencies. Today, with the advent of next-generation sequencing technologies, the cost and time of sequencing a human genome have dropped over 100 fold.
Next-Generation Sequencing Methods
Although all next-generation methods use different technologies, they all share a set of standard features.
Next-Generation Sequencing Methods
Although all next-generation methods use different technologies, they all share a set of standard features.
03:21RNA-seq
RNA sequencing, or RNA-Seq, is a high-throughput sequencing technology used to study the transcriptome of a cell. Transcriptomics helps to interpret the functional elements of a genome and identify the molecular constituents of an organism. Additionally, it also helps in understanding the development of an organism and the occurrence of diseases.
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while microarray-based...
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while microarray-based...