Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have developed a new DNA-sequencing method that is much cheaper than those currently in use in laboratories. They hope that this new method will make it possible to map disease genes in large patient groups, which in turn can mean quicker breakthroughs for new treatments for a wide variety of diseases.
By mapping DNA, scientists can trace disease genes, understand how bacteria and viruses cause infection and chart the evolution of mankind and other species. When the HUGO project mapped the first human genome not so long ago, it cost over a billion kronor and took over ten years. Today, there are instruments on the market that can do the same thing in a matter of months for less then ten million kronor. However, if scientists are to have opportunities to study disease genes in detail, and from hundreds of patients, the process must be much, much cheaper.
A Swedish team, led by Sten Linnarsson at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, has now developed a new DNA-sequencing method that can one day make it possible to map out the human genome for one-tenth of today’s cost. The method is presented in the online edition of the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology.