third generation genome sequencers

I have covered the upcoming revolution in genome sequencing, i.e. the development of "third generation" sequencers that can read single molecules and/or use electronic instead of optical base detection a few times now (e.g. this feature in Education in Chemistry and this essay review in C&I), so I'm really excited that we now reach another milestone in this development.

Today, Pacific Biosciences announces the full-scale commercial release of its single molecule sequencer, the PacBio RS.

Without any attempts at false modesty, the company PR declares: "The PacBio RS is a revolutionary DNA sequencing system that incorporates novel, single molecule sequencing techniques and advanced analytics to reveal biology in real time. The system delivers unprecedented sequence readlengths - over a thousand DNA bases on average. And unlike ‘second generation’ systems on the market today that typically take over one week to deliver results, the PacBio RS allows customers to obtain results in less than a day."

Details of how the PacBio machine works are included in my EiC feature, which is openly accessible here.

I have recently written two other features about third generation sequencers (one in English and one in German), which are now in press, so watch this space.