June 23, 2020

The Next-Generation Sequencing Revolution and Its Impact on Genomics

DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. The advent of rapid DNA sequencing methods has greatly accelerated biological and medical research and discovery.

The rapid speed of sequencing attained with modern DNA sequencing technology has been instrumental in the sequencing of complete DNA sequences, or genomes, of numerous types and species of life, including the human genome and other complete DNA sequences of many animal, plant, and microbial species.

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Molecular Biology

Sequencing is used in molecular biology to study genomes and the proteins they encode. Information obtained using sequencing allows researchers to identify changes in genes, associations with diseases and phenotypes, and identify potential drug targets.

Evolutionary Biology

Since DNA is an informative macromolecule in terms of transmission from one generation to another, DNA sequencing is used in evolutionary biology to study how different organisms are related and how they evolved.

Metagenomics

The field of metagenomics involves identification of organisms present in a body of water, sewage, dirt, debris filtered from the air, or swab samples from organisms. Knowing which organisms are present in a particular environment is critical to research in ecology, epidemiology, microbiology, and other fields. Sequencing enables researchers to determine which types of microbes may be present in a microbiome, for example.

Medicine

Medical technicians may sequence genes (or, theoretically, full genomes) from patients to determine if there is risk of genetic diseases. This is a form of genetic testing, though some genetic tests may not involve DNA sequencing. Also, DNA sequencing may be useful for determining a specific bacteria, to allow for more precise antibiotics treatments, hereby reducing the risk of creating antimicrobial resistance in bacteria populations.

Product Insights

The next generation sequencing market based on product is segmented into consumables, services, and platforms. In 2017, the consumables segment held the most significant market share of the next generation sequencing, by product.

The segment is further anticipated to command the market in 2025 by product as the consumers widely accept the consumables offered by various companies, and it provides accuracy and precision in the preparation of the NGS. Moreover, the consumers segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate during the forecast period, 2018 to 2025.

Technology Insights

The next generation sequencing market on the basis of technology is segmented into genome sequencing, exome sequencing, resequencing & targeted sequencing and others. In 2017, the resequencing & targeted sequencing segment held a largest market share of the next generation sequencing market, by technology. Furthermore, the resequencing & targeted sequencing segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate during the forecast period, 2018 to 2025.

Source: Wiki & The Insight Partners