Long read / single molecule sequencing technologies have become mainstream in de novo sequencing as well as high fidelity resequencing of genomes. The main advantage of third generation sequencing is the large length of the reads, approaching 15,000 base pairs. However, a common disadvantage of this type of sequencing is that there is a high error rate in correctly identifying the true mutations within the molecules.
A team of Northeastern biologists has developed a revolutionary new technology, referred to as long molecule UMI-driven-consensus sequencing (LUCS; detailed in United States Patent Application Number US 2018/0371544), which is positioned to drive forward our understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic and the behavior of the virus responsible for it. The crucial contribution of LUCS is that it enables scientists to accurately sequence, classify and track single nucleotide genetic variants of each individual viral DNA molecule within a given patient infected with SARS-CoV-2. This can be performed in a general whole-body fashion or in a tissue-specific manner, depending on how the viral samples are collected. Additionally, LUCS can permit a detailed assessment of viral evolution during disease progression through sequential sampling from a given patient during the course of the infection.
Benefits
- Provides dramatic improvement of single molecule sequencing fidelity
- Allows error-free analysis of small samples, including single cell analysis and hard to get clinical and environmental samples
- Allows for analysis of long DNA fragments in complex mixtures consisting of high and low abundant fractions
Applications
- Gene therapy
- Gene editing
- DNA / RNA Sequencing
- Drug Discovery
Inventors
- Konstantin Khrapko, Sofia Annis, Jonathan Tilly, Dori Woods, Slava Epstein
Tech ID
- INV-16054
- Methods and Compositions for Long Fragment/High Fidelity Sequencing Modification of the Single Molecule Sequencing Platforms Based on Combination of Unique Molecular Identifier Sequences