Semiconductor-Based Nanopore Sequencing Platform Developed for Molecular Diagnostics

A startup company is developing a semiconductor-based nanopore-sequencing platform that will be used for molecular diagnostic applications.

Genia, the Mountain View (CA, USA)-based startup has an alpha version of its single-molecule platform in hand and is currently optimizing the biochemistry for a beta system.

Stefan Roever, CEO and founder of the company declined to provide a commercialization timeline for the system or details regarding expected read length or accuracy, but noted that he believes the platform will be able to sequence genomes at a cost "one order of magnitude less" than other single-molecule systems.

He described the system as a "single-molecule electrical detection sequencing platform," and said that the company expects it to be useful for targeted resequencing and molecular diagnostics that involve both human genomics and viral or bacterial DNA.

A number of other firms are developing nanopore sequencing systems, but Stephen Roever said that Genia's focus on the underlying chip platform sets it apart from competitors. More...