Nanopore sequencing licensed for rapid DNA sequencing

Roche and Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE) has announced an agreement to license several technologies developed by Dr Stuart Lindsay, of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, and Dr Colin Nuckolls, of the Columbia University Nanoscience Center, for the development of a revolutionary DNA sequencing system.

The licensed technologies include specialised approaches for DNA base sensing and reading and build on an ongoing collaboration between Roche’s sequencing centre of excellence, 454 Life Sciences and IBM, to develop and commercialise a single-molecule, nanopore DNA sequencer with the capacity to rapidly decode an individual’s complete genome, for below $1000.

The licensed technologies offer novel approaches for reading the sequence of bases, or letters, in a single DNA molecule as it is passed through a nanopore. The team has demonstrated proof-of-concept and is in the midst of making a third generation reader molecule that provides better discrimination between the DNA bases. The licensing agreement with Roche will help translate these discoveries into a commercial instrument.

“Our promising approach, which combines advances in physics, electronics and nanotechnology, eliminates the need for the use of a major cost of sequencing today, namely, the use of chemical reagents, to read an individual’s genome,” said Lindsay, an ASU Regents’ Professor and Director of the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Single Molecule Biophysics.

“We believe that the DNA reading technologies from the Biodesign Institute are the most advanced available, and will play an important role in our nanopore sequencing system currently under development,” says Thomas Schinecker, President of 454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company. “This will complement the DNA Transistor technology from our previously announced collaboration with IBM very well, to form the core of a superior platform for extremely fast, very low-cost genome sequencing.”

The DNA Transistor technology, developed by IBM Research, slows and controls the movement of the DNA molecule as it threads through a microscopic nanopore in a silicon chip, while the newly licensed DNA reading technology can decode the bases of the DNA molecule as it passes through. Both technologies are centred on semiconductor-based nanopores, which have advantages over protein-based nanopores in terms of control, robustness, scalability and manufacturability.

The deal was brokered by AzTE, the exclusive intellectual property management and technology transfer organisation of Arizona State University, and includes sponsored research funding that will help Lindsay’s team move the technology towards commercialisation.

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently awarded Lindsay and fellow Biodesign researcher Bharath Takulapalli more than $5 million for their work in DNA sequencing. ASU was the only university to receive more than one award.