Abstract

A critical technique in modern biological and medical research is the sequence analysis of DNA. Every time a new gene is cloned, its sequence must be determined to permit further research. Conventional techniques for DNA sequencing, although powerful and effective, are extremely time-consuming, repetitive, and laborious, employ hazardous and unstable radioisotopes, and are not suited to very large-scale sequencing projects such as the analysis of the human genome. For these reasons, we developed an automated DNA sequencing method which uses fluorescent tags in place of radioisotopes for detection. The fluorescent tags are detected using a high-sensitivity laser-based detector, and the resultant data are analyzed by microcomputer to yield automatically the DNA sequence. A commercial version of this instrument has been developed, which has a theoretical capability of sequencing 10,000 bases of DNA per day.

© 1988 Optical Society of America