Next-Gen Sequencing

In 2003, scientists and researchers officially completed the Human Genome Project, a groundbreaking accomplishment to sequence, or map and identify, all of the genes of an entire human genome. The endeavor began in 1990, cost nearly $3 billion, and involved an unprecedented global collaborative effort.

Unlike the “first generation” sequencing technology originally developed in the 1970’s that formed the basis for mapping the first human genome, DNA sequencing has never been as easy or straightforward as it is now. Following advances in high throughput technology and parallel analysis, modern sequencing can allow for an entire human genome to be sequenced in a matter of days. This is referred to as “next-generation” sequencing (next-gen sequencing or NGS) to differentiate it from its predecessor, and can be applied to sequencing an entire genome as described above, or targeting and sequencing selected regions of interest using PCR.

Today, NGS is used by researchers to study a broad spectrum of genetic mutations that might be associated with diseases, or to identify which sequences of a gene that will respond better to certain therapeutics, including cancer genome and individual cancer sequencing to enable more precise diagnoses and personalized treatment.

Co-Diagnostics researchers have been applying the CoPrimer platform technology to NGS by developing a single-step targeted NGS process. Their results have demonstrated that the multiplexing properties of CoPrimers have the potential to dramatically reduce time and labor costs of NGS, allowing a library preparation step that would normally exceed 7 or 8 hours to be performed in as little as three hours. In an industry where higher throughput translates to lower costs, CoPrimers could be the key to NGS that is faster, simpler, and more affordable than ever before.