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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

DNA sequencing Videos.

With IBM tossing it's hat into the ring of "next-next-generation" sequencing, I'm starting to get lost as to which generation is which. For the moment, I'm sort of lumping things together, while I wait to see how the field plays out. In my mind, first generation is anything that requires chain termination, Second generation is chemical based pyrosequencing, and third generation is single molecule sequencing based on a nano-scale mechanical process. It's a crude divide, but it seems to have some consistency.

At any rate, I decided I'd collect a few videos to illustrate each one. For Sanger, there are a LOT of videos, many of which are quite excellent, but I only wanted one. (Sorry if I didn't pick yours.) For second and third generation DNA sequencing videos, the selection kind of flattens out, and two of them come from corporate sites, rather than youtube - which seems to be the general consensus repository of technology videos.

Personally, I find it interesting to see how each group is selling themselves. You'll notice some videos press heavily on the technology, while others focus on the workflow.

As an aside, I also find it interesting to look for places where the illustrations don't make sense... there's a lovely place in the 454 video where two strands of DNA split from each other on the bead, leaving the two full strands and a complete primer sequence... mysterious! (Yes, I do enjoy looking for inconsistencies when I go to the movies.)

Ok, get out your popcorn.

First Generation:
Sanger Entry: Link



Second Generation:
Pyrosequencing Entry: Link



Helicose Entry: Link



Illumina (Corporate site): Link

(Click to see the Flash animation)


454 Entry: Link



Third Generation:

Pacific Biosciences: Link

(Click to see the Flash Video)


Oxford Nanopore Entry: Link



IBM's Entry: Link



Note: If I've missed something, please let me know. I'm happy to add to this post whenever something new comes up.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Luke said...

It's very cool to see all this collected together in one place. Goes to prove that, if nothing else, 454 and Oxford NanoPore are the most stylish methods about.

On the other hand, I can't help but find the Helicos video somewhat tragic.

October 6, 2009 2:48:00 PM PDT  
Anonymous pravind said...

Excellent post. Really helps in explaining the difference sequencing approaches.

October 6, 2009 9:11:00 PM PDT  
Blogger ECO said...

This post has been removed by the author.

October 6, 2009 10:04:00 PM PDT  
Blogger ECO said...

I truly can read...in addition to just looking for pretty pictures.

Nice collection AF, long time no see.

October 6, 2009 10:06:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Anthony Fejes said...

Hey ECO,

It has been a while. I'm trying to do a few too many things at once, but I'll be back to seqanswers when I finish a few things.

And yes, pretty pictures are good (-;

October 7, 2009 9:00:00 AM PDT  

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