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Related Concept Videos

Next-generation Sequencing

Next-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.

RNA-seq

RNA-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...

Sanger Sequencing

Sanger Sequencing

DNA sequencing is a fundamental technique that is routinely used in the biological sciences. This method can be applied to a range of questions at different scales - from the sequencing of a cloned DNA fragment or the study of a mutation in a gene up to whole-genome sequencing. However, despite the widespread use of sequencing today, it was not until 1977 that Fredrick Sanger and his collaborators developed the chain-termination method to decode DNA sequences. It relies on the separation of a...

Maxam-Gilbert Sequencing

Maxam-Gilbert Sequencing

In the same year as the discovery of the Sanger sequencing method, another group of scientists, Allan Maxam and Walter Gilbert, demonstrated their chemical-cleavage method for DNA sequencing. The Maxam-Gilbert method relies on using different chemicals that can cleave the DNA sequence at specific sites, the separation of resulting DNA fragments of variable size using electrophoresis, and deciphering the DNA sequence from the resulting gel bands.
Challenges of the Maxam-Gilbert Method
The...

Modern Molecular Taxonomy

Modern Molecular Taxonomy

Advancements in molecular biology have revolutionized the identification and characterization of bacteria, with multiple methods leveraging DNA sequencing for enhanced precision. As sequencing technologies improve and costs decline, these approaches are increasingly used in clinical, environmental, and evolutionary studies.Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) examines several housekeeping genes, essential chromosomal genes encoding cellular functions, to distinguish strains. Approximately...

Multi-species Conserved Sequences

Multi-species Conserved Sequences

Next-generation sequencing technologies have created large genomic databases of a variety of animals and plants. Ever since the human genome project was completed, scientists studied the genome of primates, mammals, and other phylogenetically distant living beings. Such large-scale studies have provided new insights into the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Sequencing of mRNA from Whole Blood using Nanopore Sequencing

Sequencing of mRNA from Whole Blood using Nanopore Sequencing

Published on: June 3, 2019

New sequencing technologies.

Ivo Glynne Gut¹

¹Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico, PCB, C/Baldiri Reixac 4, 08028, Barcelona, Spain, igut@pcb.ub.cat.

Clinical & Translational Oncology : Official Publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico

|July 13, 2013

Summary

DNA sequencing technologies have evolved through four generations, with second-generation methods offering significantly higher output and lower costs than Sanger sequencing. Current advancements focus on third-generation nanopore systems and future fourth-generation technologies for high-resolution genetic information.

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Next-generation Sequencing of 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Amplicons

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Last Updated: May 9, 2026

Sequencing of mRNA from Whole Blood using Nanopore Sequencing

Sequencing of mRNA from Whole Blood using Nanopore Sequencing

Published on: June 3, 2019

Next-generation Sequencing of 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Amplicons

Next-generation Sequencing of 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Amplicons

Published on: August 29, 2014

Pyrosequencing for Microbial Identification and Characterization

Pyrosequencing for Microbial Identification and Characterization

Published on: August 22, 2013

Area of Science:

Genomics
Molecular Biology
Biotechnology

Background:

Nucleic acid sequencing is a fundamental tool in biological research with diverse applications.
Four distinct generations of DNA sequencing technologies have emerged, differing in methodology and output.
Sanger sequencing was the standard for three decades, crucial for the Human Genome Project.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the evolution of DNA sequencing technologies.
To highlight the advancements and applications of different sequencing generations.
To discuss the current state and future directions of nucleic acid sequencing.

Main Methods:

Review of historical and current DNA sequencing technologies.
Analysis of the characteristics and outputs of Sanger, second, and third-generation sequencing.
Discussion of emerging fourth-generation sequencing concepts.

Main Results:

Second-generation sequencing (2005) dramatically increased output and reduced cost per base compared to Sanger sequencing.
Third-generation sequencing, including nanopore systems, is under development.
Second-generation sequencers are integral to large-scale projects like the International Cancer Genome Consortium.

Conclusions:

The field of nucleic acid sequencing is rapidly advancing with new generations of technology.
These advancements enable high-resolution genetic information acquisition.
Second-generation sequencing plays a critical role in major international genomics initiatives.