Sequencing by expansion technology provides speed and scalability
Pharmaceutical company Roche Diagnostics has launched its sequencing by expansion (SBX) technology, which quickly provides high through-put, scalable sequencing.
“The science behind SBX technology represents a significant breakthrough that addresses the limitations of existing sequencing solutions,” said Roche CEO Matt Sause. “Roche's SBX has created a differentiated approach, offering speed, efficiency and flexibility.”
SBX is a sequencing approach that encodes the sequence of a target nucleic acid molecule into a measurable surrogate polymer Xpandomer.
Xpandomers are 50 times longer than the original molecule and encode the sequence information, providing clear signals with little background noise.
Encoding the sequencing information into high signal-to-noise reporters enables single-molecule nanopore sequencing using a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)-based sensor module with parallel processing capabilities.
“Solving the signal-to-noise challenge is a key efficiency driver for the technology,” said Roche’s head of SBX Technology Mark Kokoris.
“With this capability we can flexibly operate across a range of throughput scales using the same sequencing system, which provides a significant advantage to users.”
The SBX technology enables quick, high-throughput sequencing that is flexible and scalable for many different genomic applications. Researchers can decode diseases such as cancer, immune disorders and neurogenerative conditions, where up to thousands of genes can influence disease progression.
Traditional sequencing technology struggles with versatility, scalability and speed. SBX technology’s CMOS sensor module supports real-time base calls and analysis, processing multiple projects at once to create scalable and flexible architecture for a range of projects.
This level of versatility could support applications such as whole genome sequencing, whole exome sequencing and RNA sequencing.
Earlier this year, Roche received CE mark approval for its Cobas Mass Spec solution offering a menu of over 60 analytes for testing of steroid hormones, vitamin D metabolites, immunosuppressant drugs, therapeutic drug monitoring and drugs of abuse testing.
