Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd is pleased to congratulate Professor Reza Ghadiri (Scripps Institute, CA, USA) on the award of a $5.1 million, four year grant by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).
Professor Ghadiri will collaborate with Oxford Nanopore founder Professor Hagan Bayley (University of Oxford, UK) and Professor Amit Meller (Boston University) on the grant, entitled “Single-Molecule DNA Sequencing with Engineered Nanopores”.
The research laboratories in the US and UK will collaborate to research the use of biological nanopores for sequencing single stranded DNA (ssDNA), for the development of a new method of faster and cheaper DNA analysis technology. Specific projects will address enzymatic and non-enzymatic mechanisms of controlling the translocation of ssDNA through the nanopore and the accurate identification of individual DNA bases on the strand as it passes through the pore.
Nanopore sensing can be scaled-up through the use of massively parallel array chips, where individual electronic channels correspond with individual nanopores. The NHGRI-funded programme will also include research on new types of arrays, including the insertion of protein nanopores into silicon nitride films and measurement of ion flow through these pores using fluorescence detection.
The award is part of the “$1,000 genome” technology programme, designed to reduce dramatically the cost of DNA sequencing and broaden the applications of genomic information in medical research and health care.
The project will build on work conducted with a previous award; $4.2 million was awarded to the same researchers for “Single-Molecule DNA Sequencing with Engineered Nanopores” in 2005.