Based on the 454 sequencing technology, the Roche Genome Sequencer 20 System system is able to generate hundreds of thousands of sequence reads in a few hours at a fraction of costs compared with the traditional Sanger technology.
The next-generation system the Genome Sequencer FLX system has an improved combination of read length and throughput and its significantly better sequence accuracy.
It offers the broadest range of applications for research fields such as cancer research, genetic diseases, infectious diseases, plant genomics or metagenomics, and many more.
The Genome Sequencer FLX features and resulting benefits include:
- Average read length of 200–300 bases (compared to 100 with GS20), depending of the application and the organism. Read length is one of the most important key. The longer the read length, the fewer gaps will remain in consensus sequences of whole genome sequencing projects, the more accurate the identification of highly variable alleles will be, and the more information on haplotypes will be gained. Longer read length also facilitates to allocate functions to EST sequences derived from the transcriptome.
- Single read accuracy of more than 99.5percent, substitution errors are exceedingly rare.
- Increased throughput leading to faster, more convenient and less costly data generation: 200Mb per day.
- Improved reagents concept (On-board mixing of sequencing reagents, improved fluidics reducing run time and reagent consumption, improved reagent shelf life, faster rapid thaw protocols for reagents (two hours at RT), only one preventive maintenance per year due to automated, tube calibration, even greater robustness)
With the Genome Sequencer FLX System, 454 Life Science and Roche Applied Science have introduced their ‘second-generation Genome Sequencer System.
For many applications in the various research fields, read lengths >100 bases – as offered by the GS FLX – are required to uncover the comprehensive biological information encoded in DNA sequences, such as SNPs in both exonic or intronic sequences, structural variants, or very important small deletions in the range of 3–500 bases. An incomplete picture of the real situation is often seen when smaller read lengths are used. This results in misleading and expensive downstream analysis.
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Roche Diagnostics, Penzberg, Germany. www.roche.com
