Companies Entering DNA Sequencing Race to Reveal the Mysterious World of Microbes

DNA sequencing
Microbes in human gut (Image credit: Illumina)

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have truly revolutionized nucleic acid analysis. While Illumina leads this booming decade-old sequencing market, others in this field are Oxford Nanopore, Ion Torrent, Qiagen, BGI, and Pacific Biosciences.

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DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. The advent of rapid DNA sequencing methods has greatly accelerated biological and medical research and discovery. The rapid speed of sequencing attained with modern DNA sequencing technology has been instrumental in the sequencing of complete DNA sequences, or genomes, of numerous types and species of life, including the human genome and other complete DNA sequences of many animal, plant, and microbial species.

Illumina’s sequencing technology is by far the most widely used because it is suited for many applications, and the company has developed dedicated instruments for different uses (i.e. low/medium/high-throughput sequencing), reports MicroNews.

Illumina’s research field include Cancer, Microbiology, Agrigenomics, Complex disease, Cellular and molecular biology, Reproductive health and Genetic health.

Sequencing DNA
Image: Oxford Nanopore

The human body contains trillions of cells that belong not to us, but to microbes. The next generation sequencing is revealing the mysterious world of these microbes. Researchers are now discovering that these microbes play a critical role in human health and disease. However, microbes dwell not only in our body but in our homes, oceans and soil. With the aid of next-generation sequencing (NGS), scientists are now rigorously investigating this immense, microscopic universe. Using NGS, researchers are investigating the genomes of microbes to improve our understanding of human health, disease, and microbial evolution.

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Cathy Russey
Cathy Russey () is Online Editor at WT | Wearable Technologies and specialized in writing about the latest medical wearables and enabling technologies on the market. Cathy can be contacted at info(at)wearable-technologies.com.