BRANFORD, Conn., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- 454 Life Sciences, a Roche company, today announced the publication of over 100 peer-reviewed studies using the Company’s Genome Sequencer System. The studies span a diverse group of DNA sequencing applications, including de novo sequencing and re-sequencing of whole genomes, metagenomics, RNA analysis, and targeted sequencing of DNA regions of interest. The Genome Sequencer System, powered by 454 Sequencing, enables researchers to tackle innovative research, publish faster, and access diverse applications.
454 Sequencing’s unique feature set of long reads, exceptional accuracy, and ultra-high throughput has enabled groundbreaking research, as evidenced by the large number of studies which have appeared in top tier journals, including 12 papers in Nature, 11 papers in Science, 10 papers in Nucleic Acids Research, 9 papers in Genome Research, 8 papers in PNAS, and 4 papers in Cell.
“454 Sequencing was the innovation we needed to make metagenomics a routine method for accessing viral and microbial environmental communities.” said Forest Rhower, PhD., Associate Professor of Biology at San Diego State University. “The long reads and high throughput of the GS FLX allow my lab to sequence metagenomes, from coral reefs to the human lungs, and determine the types of organisms that inhabit these environments and their metabolic potential.”
The first generation Genome Sequencer System, the GS 20, was launched two years ago. To perform, analyze, write and submit a paper for a peer-reviewed publication is usually a year-long process. The speed with which researchers using the Genome Sequencer system have published their discoveries demonstrates the high-quality and easy analysis of 454 Sequencing results.
The 100th study, entitled “A pyrosequencing-tailored nucleotide barcode design unveils opportunities for large-scale sample multiplexing,” appeared October 11th in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. The Stanford based study, led by 2006 Nobel Laureate Andrew Fire, explored how an individual DNA sample could be uniquely “barcoded” with the addition of a known short nucleotide sequence to the ends of all DNA molecules in that sample. Barcoded samples can be pooled together to improve the flexibility of experimental design and the ability to multiplex more samples on a single sequencing run. This study and the others can be found, sorted by application, on the company’s website, www.genome-sequencing.com.
The studies published to date come from the fields of cancer research, infectious diseases research, drug discovery, marine biology, anthropology, paleontology, and many more. The 100 studies are complemented by numerous review articles that explore the current uses and future potential of 454 Sequencing.
“Reaching our 100th peer-reviewed publication so quickly is a testament to 454 Sequencing’s adoption as a research standard and to the system’s status as a production instrument,” explained Christopher Mcleod, president and CEO of 454 Life Sciences. “Based upon the rapid increase in our customers worldwide, we expect that many more groundbreaking studies are pending. In our continuing effort to enable research that was previously technically or economically impossible, we will introduce a powerful new sequencing kit for the current GS FLX system next summer. The new kit will support increased throughput and read length and significantly decrease sequencing costs.”
454 Life Sciences develops and commercializes the innovative Genome Sequencer(TM) system for ultra-high-throughput DNA sequencing. Specific applications include de novo sequencing and re-sequencing of genomes, metagenomics, RNA analysis, and targeted sequencing of DNA regions of interest. The hallmarks of 454 Sequencing(TM) are its simple, unbiased sample preparation and long, highly accurate sequence reads, including paired reads. 454 Sequencing technology has enabled many peer-reviewed studies in diverse research fields such as cancer and infectious disease research, drug discovery, marine biology, anthropology, paleontology and many more.
For additional information, please visit http://www.454.com.
About Roche and the Roche Diagnostics Division
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world’s biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, a market leader in virology and active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammation, metabolism and central nervous system. In 2006 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totaled 33.3 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.7 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 75,000 worldwide and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Roche’s Diagnostics Division offers a uniquely broad product portfolio and supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories world-wide. For further information, please visit our website at www.roche.com.
burkhard.ziebolz@roche.comTony.russo@russopartnersllc.comTimothy.engel@russopartnersllc.com
CONTACT: Dr. Burkhard Ziebolz, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, +49 (8856) 60 4830,
burkhard.ziebolz@roche.com; Tony Russo, +1-212-845-4251,
Tony.russo@russopartnersllc.com, or Timothy Engel, +1-212-845-4242,
Timothy.engel@russopartnersllc.com, both of Russo Partners, LLC
Web site: http://www.454.com/
http://www.roche.com/
http://www.genome-sequencing.com/
