First Full Genome of a Living Organism Assembled Using Technology the Size of Smartphone

June 17, 2015

(Nanotechnology Now) – Researchers in Canada and the U.K. have for the first time sequenced and assembled de novo the full genome of a living organism, the bacteria Escherichia Coli, using Oxford Nanopore’s MinIONTM device, a genome sequencer that can fit in the palm of your hand. The findings, which were published today in the journal Nature Methods, provide proof of concept for the technology and the methods lay the groundwork for using it to sequence genomes in increasingly more complex organisms, eventually including humans, said Dr. Jared Simpson, principal investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and a lead author on the study.