Next Generation DNA Sequencing and the Birth of a Golden Era for Microbial Ecology

In 2005, a breakthrough technology was Announced that provided a quantum leap In DNA sequencing capacity. This technology differed from the Sanger method In many ways: 1. Eliminates cloning—completely circumvents cloning bias 2. Uses bead technology—DNA templates are attached to sepharose beads 3. Relies on pyrosequencing chemistry—synthesis is sequential not partial 4. Parallelizes the sequencing process—hundreds of thousands of beads can be sequenced in parallel The bottom line: it makes production-scale sequencing available to the common man