Tag Archives: genome sequencing

An enormous step forward in whole genome sequencing

The idea might not be new – we already diluted DNA already a decade ago ( see this 2003 paper ). A new Nature paper by Peters ( Accurate whole-genome sequencing and haplotyping from 10 to 20 human cells… ) now shows that diluting DNA into 384 wells, adding unique tags, and pooling again before sequencing everything on a Hiseq, will result in an enormous reduction of sequencing errors – a problem that we are fighting now for a year. IMHO the paper isn’t primarily about the low number of cells that can be sequenced, but also about error reduction in WGS. The two key facts are certainly

To ensure complete representation of the genome we maximized the input of DNA fragments for a given read coverage and number of aliquots. Unlike other experimental approaches this resulted in low- coverage read data for each fragment in each of the wells a fragment is found in.

plus an intelligent phasing algorithm Continue reading An enormous step forward in whole genome sequencing

Our politicians, our governments? Always years behind

The new Edge Magazine has the annual question 2009 online

New tools equal new perceptions.
Through science we create technology and in using our new tools we recreate ourselves. But until very recently in our history, no democratic populace, no legislative body, ever indicated by choice, by vote, how this process should play out.
… While science may or may not be the only news, it is the news that stays news.
And our politicians, our governments? Always years behind, the best they can do is play catch up.

But unfortunately it continues Continue reading Our politicians, our governments? Always years behind