Expert view: Advances in NGS technology
Posted: 13 September 2017 | Dumitru Brinza (Thermo Fisher Scientific) | No comments yet
The multiplex and high-throughput capabilities of next-generation sequencing (NGS) allow researchers to study an immense number of DNA/RNA molecules per run, bringing opportunities to study biological or clinical research questions that could not be addressed before…
The most recent examples of advances in NGS technology include:
- Reconstructing immuno-repertoire from a large diversity of immune cells
- Detecting and studying clonality and evolution of tumours from cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and cell-free RNA (cfRNA) in blood, or intact cells from highly clonal tumours like AML
- Reconstructing metagenomes and microbiomes for association with a disorder or discovery of unknown pathogens.
Enabling researchers to effectively utilise NGS tools to lift the boundaries of current understanding to new levels is one of the biggest opportunities in this field.
Recent innovations
Most of the recent innovations have evolved around simplifying usage of NGS technology and making it more robust. As this technology is increasingly leveraged to gain rapid and in-depth insights, the NGS market will continue to deliver improvements in automation, complete workflow applications, services, and analytical solutions. This will help with developing the future clinical NGS market, which could reach its inflection point in the next five years.
Also featured in this NGS In-Depth Focus:
NGS: empowering infectious disease research beyond reality
Pushpanathan Muthuirulan (National Institutes of Health), Pooja Sharma (Catholic University of America)
How next-generation sequencing is opening the door for drug discovery
Kim Judge (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute)
Related topics
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), Pathology & Molecular Medicine, Research & Development
Related organisations
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Related people
Dumitru Brinza