by Sanger Sequencing Industry
Sanger sequencing, also known as chain-termination or dideoxy sequencing, is a technique developed by British biochemist Frederick Sanger in 1977 that provides a standard method for determining the sequence of nucleotides within a strand of DNA or RNA. This technique uses the DNA polymerase enzyme and chain-terminating dideoxynucleotides (ddNTPs) to achieve easy mass production of DNA sequences. Since its development, Sanger sequencing has become a fundamental method that has enabled major advancements in fields like genomics, molecular biology, and biomedical research.
Widespread Automation and Sanger Sequencing Industry
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the development of capillary electrophoresis machines for DNA separation and the automation of pipetting steps allowed Sanger sequencing to be performed on a much larger scale. This widespread automation helped drive down the costs of sequencing dramatically from an estimated $10 per base pair in 1990 to just $0.0001 per base pair by 2015. The rising demand for lower-cost sequencing as genomics research became more common also led to innovations that reduced required reagents and consumables. Now Sanger Sequencing centers worldwide can produce hundreds of millions of bases of sequence data each day using automated Sanger machines.
Complete Genome Sequencing Projects Drive Innovation
Some of the earliest and most iconic applications of automated Sanger sequencing were large-scale national genome sequencing projects like the Human Genome Project. Finishing the first draft human genome sequence in 2001 required sequencing over 3 billion DNA base pairs using Sanger technology. Other prominent genome projects like sequencing model organism genomes also helped push forward methodological improvements and throughput increases for Sanger sequencing. The demand to sequence many individual genomes paved the way for even higher automation and throughput to enable sequencing entire genomes for just a few thousand dollars today.
Clinical Applications and Personalized Medicine
Sanger sequencing continues powering diagnostic applications and genomic research worldwide. It remains the gold standard technique for the validation and confirmation of variants identified by newer genome sequencing methods. This precision and reliability has made Sanger sequencing critical for clinical genomic applications like newborn screening, disease diagnostics, pharmacogenomics, and cancer profiling. As the costs of whole genome sequencing decrease further, Sanger may enable clinical verification and reporting of many more medically relevant variants for applications in personalized and precision medicine. Even as third-generation long-read sequencing technologies advance, Sanger still has a substantial role to play in validating variants and clinically annotating genomes.
Expanding Global Genomic Initiatives
On a global scale, Sanger sequencing has facilitated extensive population genetic studies and enabled large human genomic initiatives worldwide. Projects like the 1000 Genomes Project, HapMap, and cohort-specific sequencing consortia have leveraged the throughput and data quality of Sanger to characterize human genetic variation and fine-map disease-associated regions across diverse populations from around the globe. New national genomic initiatives are now common in major economies like the UK Biobank, China Kadoorie Biobank, and Precision Medicine Initiative in the United States. These studies are improving our understanding of population history and the architecture of human traits and diseases on a global scale through Sanger sequencing.
Future Improvements and Applications
Despite its mature status, researchers continue developing new techniques to further improve the cost, throughput and applications of Sanger sequencing. Examples include microfluidic Sanger chips for low-volume high-throughput sequencing, customized fluorophore sets for multiplexing many samples in a single reaction, and automated library preparation kits which simplify workflow. Long reads obtained through techniques like Pacific Biosciences or Oxford Nanopore sequencing also benefit greatly from accurate Sanger validation of repeats and structural variants. In the future, Sanger may see new uses like sequencing ancient DNA extracts, characterizing structural variants, or studying epigenetic patterns at single-nucleotide resolution. Its simple workflow, long reads, and precision will likely retain Sanger sequencing as a mainstay technology for DNA analysis in both research and clinical contexts.
Over four decades since its discovery, Sanger sequencing has come to define the DNA sequencing field and remains the tried-and-true gold standard technique. Its impact on advancing fields from genomics and biomedicine to evolutionary biology has been monumental. Widespread automation, global projects, plummeting costs, and clinical adoption have allowed Sanger sequencing to scale up massively from its original conception. With its trustworthy precision and established tools/workflows continuing to be improved, Sanger looks poised to stay at the forefront of DNA analysis for years to come and further transform our understanding of human genetics, disease, and global populations. So in many ways, Sanger sequencing may be considered the original innovation that kickstarted the genomics revolution with advancements still ongoing.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
Money Singh is a seasoned content writer with over four years of experience in the market research sector. Her expertise spans various industries, including food and beverages, biotechnology, chemical and materials, defense and aerospace, consumer goods, etc.
