Researchers, led by University of Washington (UW) physicist Jens Gundlach, have developed a nanopore sequencing technology that is capable of reading the sequence of a single DNA molecule. In this system, the DNA is pulled through a nanopore while an ion current through the pore electronically reads the DNA's sequence. The nanopore is an engineered protein developed specifically for DNA sequencing by Gundlach's team in collaboration with Michael Niederweis, a microbiologist at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). This technology has led to a patent-licensing deal between UW and Illumina, Inc.
The licensing deal gives San Diego-based Illumina, Inc., developer of integrated systems for genetic variation analysis, exclusive worldwide rights to develop and market the nanopore DNA sequencing technology that is based on the engineered pore.
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