Gene sequencing technology can target individual genes for prevention and treatment.
Since the early 1990s, academics have been involved in the Human Genome Project. The traditional method of sequencing is to use optical sequencing technology. Four different bases are labeled with different colors of fluorescent light, and then a laser light source is used to capture the fluorescent signals to obtain the sequence information of the genes to be tested.
While this method is reliable, it is notoriously expensive, with a single instrument costing around $500,000 to $750,000 and a single test costing $5,000 to $10,000 per test.
Through a semiconductor sensor, the instrument achieves direct detection of the ionic currents generated during DNA replication. When reagents enter the chip through an integrated fluidic pathway, reaction holes densely packed on the chip immediately become millions of microreaction systems.
This combination of technologies allows researchers to obtain genetic information in as little as 2 hours. Traditional optical sequencing technology requires weeks or even months of waiting for results. At the same time, the cost of a single test has been reduced to as little as $1,000
The long sequencing time frame and tens of thousands of dollars in instrumentation costs have been barriers to bringing gene sequencing to the general public. The new technology has dramatically lowered the barriers to genome sequencing, allowing more researchers to use the technology to develop multiple applications.
Life Technologies, a California-based company, recently launched the Ion Proton, a desktop gene sequencer in China that it says can sequence a person's entire genome in a day. This means that gene sequencing technology is expected to come into clinical practice, and ordinary people will be able to learn their own genetic sequence. However, the product has not been authorized by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and CFDA (China State Food and Drug Administration), and its specific role remains to be tested.
Shenzhen-based genomics research center UW Genomics completed its acquisition of Complete Genomics ("CG"), an innovative leader in precision sequencing of the entire human genome, in 2013, and in 2015, CG launched Revolocity, a fully-integrated "super sequencer" that has been used by Australia's health services company Mater and the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. In 2015, CG launched Revolocity, a fully integrated "super sequencer," with Australian health services company Mater and the University Medical Center Nijmegen in the Netherlands as the first users of the Revolocity sequencing system.
UGA owns next-generation sequencing platforms such as Complete Genomics, Illumina HiSeq, ABI SOLiD System, Roche GS FLX Platform, Ion Torrent and Ion Proton. Among them, Complete Genomics sequencing platform is fully owned by UWG with independent intellectual property rights.