High-Speed, Low-Cost, Large-Scale DNA Sequencer

Current methods for sequencing DNA would require hundreds of expensive sequencingmachines, hundreds of reaction preparation robot systems, several man-decades of work, and billionsof dollars to completely sequence the human genome. There are potentially much higher payoffs indeveloping new automated large-scale sequencing technologies which can accomplish this goal severalorders of magnitude faster and less expensively. The project combines several recent advancementsin sequencing-related technologies with high-speed, computer-controlled machinery design in an effortto produce a large-scale sequencing instrument. Using high-throughput automated liquid handlingtechniques, high-speed electrophoresis, and the on-line primer assembly and directed primer walkingtechniques developed at Brookhaven National Laboratories (BNL), Intelligent Automation Systems (IAS)will design a completely integrated sequencing instrument which requires very little operator intervention.