Hitachi High Technologies America (HTA) will partner with ZS Genetics to commercialize ZS single-molecule DNA sequencing platform, the companies said today, through a collaboration whose value was not disclosed.

The companies said ZS Genetics proprietary third-generation technologies, based on high-resolution electron microscopy (EM), will allow users for the first time to sequence long reads50,000 or more base-pairsof single DNA molecules at high quality. The company expects to average hundreds of millions of base-pairs of sequencing data per hour.

ZS Genetics says its technology is designed to sequence entire human genomes in days by reading sequences of single DNA molecules that are hundreds of times longer than those read by any other existing technologies, without the need for amplification.

ZS Genetics third-generation sequencing processes DNA samples into single-stranded DNA that is then modified into double-stranded DNA with a few heavy atoms or modified deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs) per base pair. Each dNTP contains a unique label separately identifiable in the electron microscope image, which is captured and analyzed with software that recognizes the DNA and labels.

The technology typically sequences each sample 5 to 10 times, rather than 30 to 50 timesa reduction in oversampling that ZS Genetics says on its website will collapse the informatics costs of sequencing and improve the quality of genomes produced.

Privately held ZS Genetics plans to establish an early-access center in its Wakefield, MA, facility later this year for product and application development, in collaboration with select customer and supply-chain partners it did not name.

The companies did not disclose other details and terms of their strategic product development relationship.

The technical capabilities of our two companies are expected to produce a DNA sequencing platform capable of enabling unique scientific discovery, as well as offering a powerful tool to complement and broaden current short-read sequencing technologies, ZS Genetics CEO John A. McCarthy, Jr., said in a statement. The rapidly increasing complexity of scientific discovery continues to reinforce the need for higher quality and more scientifically rich DNA sequencing capabilities."

Added Phil Bryson, vp and gm of HTAs Nanotechnology Systems Division: We are confident that HTAs decades-long leadership in high-resolution EM for highly complex applications in R&D and industry can translate readily into this powerful and important new application for the life sciences industry.

HTA, a subsidiary of Hitachi High-Technologies Corp., sells and services semiconductor manufacturing equipment, analytical instrumentation, scientific instruments, and bio-related products, as well as industrial equipment, electronic devices, and electronic and industrial materials. HTA is a privately owned global affiliate company operating within the Hitachi Group Companies.

Excerpt from:
Hitachi Partners with ZS Genetics to Commercialize Sequencing Platform - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News