PROVIDENCE, RI — (Marketwired) — 05/24/17 — , a genomics company pioneering high-definition mapping of genomes using high-resolution, high-speed nanodetectors, today shared performance of its new electronic HD-Mapping platform and its ability to identify structural variation in both microbial and human genomes. The company also confirmed it is preparing for a beta program.
In a talk titled “Whole Genome Mapping…Now in HD,” Nabsys founder and CEO Dr. Barrett Bready revealed the advantages of using solid-state nanodetectors to build high-definition whole genome maps and analyze genomic structural variation (genomic changes larger than ~100 base pairs). He explained that despite advances in next generation sequencing technologies, limitations imposed by short read lengths of leading sequencing technologies combined with the repetitive nature of genomes present challenges for genome assembly and analysis. Longer range techniques such as optical mapping provide information over a larger scale, but lack resolution.
“Nabsys– significant progress this past year puts us in a strong position to launch a beta program to select labs early next year with a full commercial launch to follow,” Dr. Bready said. “By avoiding optics and going completely electronic and semiconductor-based, the platform will enjoy more than an order of magnitude cost advantage over optical mapping for both the instrument and consumables. We want to democratize genomic structural variation. Our goal by next year is to enable individual researchers to do whole genome structural variation analysis on their samples at their own benchtops.”
At PMWC, Dr. Bready showed data from pre-published papers titled “High-Definition Electronic Genome Maps from Single Molecule Data” and “Automated Structural Variant Verification in Human Genomes using Single-Molecule Electronic DNA Mapping.” The papers are from the company–s website.
Dr. Bready–s talk follows presentations entitled, “High Density Electronic Maps to Verify Structural Variations in Human Genomes” and “De Novo Assembly of High Density Electronic Maps Reveal Structural Diversity in Bordetella pertussis” (better known as whooping cough) at the 12th Annual Sequencing, Finishing, and Analysis in the Future Conference. Nabsys collaborated with researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create highly accurate whole genome electronic maps of pathogenic strains of B. pertussis enabling a level of structural analysis unavailable to existing mapping technologies. The precision and accuracy of Nabsys HD-Mapping allowed for distinction between highly related strains and identified structural differences which may contribute to observed variation in virulence and vaccine avoidance characteristics among the strains.
The Nabsys HD-Mapping works by adding sequence-specific tags to long DNA molecules. These molecules are then driven through the nanodetectors at high velocity using a combination of electrophoretic and hydrodynamic control. The detector reports the locations of the sequence-specific tags on the molecules. The information is then analyzed by the Nabsys suite of software tools and can be used for the following applications:
Analysis of structural variation
De novo sequencing/assembly of genomes
Validation of contigs produced from NGS data
Characterization of sample heterogeneity
Nabsys is a privately held company that develops semiconductor-based tools for better genomic analysis. The company has pioneered the technology of electronic high-definition mapping that is capable of analyzing entire genomes in very large fragments (100,000 bp and higher) traveling at high velocity (greater than 1 million base pairs per second). Nabsys was the first company to receive a “1000 Genome” award from the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health for an electronic approach to DNA analysis. For more information, please visit or contact us at . Stay connected with Nabsys on Twitter:
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Pamela Mahoney
BlueChair Group
(408) 674-6997
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