454 Life Sciences

454 Life Sciences is a biotechnology company that was founded in 2000 and became a subsidiary of Roche Diagnostics in 2007. It is known for developing and commercializing the innovative technology of genome sequencing, which has had a significant impact on the field of genomics. The company's technology, often referred to as 454 sequencing, was one of the first to enable the high-throughput sequencing of DNA, making it faster, cheaper, and more accessible than ever before. This article will delve into the history, technology, and impact of 454 Life Sciences on the scientific and medical communities.

History

454 Life Sciences was established in the year 2000, with its headquarters located in Branford, Connecticut, USA. The company quickly became a pioneer in the field of high-throughput DNA sequencing. In 2005, 454 Life Sciences introduced its first commercial sequencing platform, the GS 20, which was capable of producing 20 million base pairs of DNA sequences in a single run. This was a groundbreaking achievement at the time, as it significantly surpassed the capabilities of existing sequencing technologies.

In 2007, 454 Life Sciences was acquired by Roche Diagnostics, a division of the multinational healthcare company Roche. Under Roche's ownership, the company continued to innovate and improve its sequencing technology. However, in 2013, Roche announced that it would discontinue the 454 sequencing platforms due to the emergence of more cost-effective sequencing technologies.

Technology

The technology behind 454 sequencing, also known as pyrosequencing, is based on the detection of pyrophosphate release upon nucleotide incorporation. This method differs from traditional Sanger sequencing by eliminating the need for chain-terminating dideoxynucleotides. Instead, 454 sequencing utilizes a series of enzymatic reactions that produce light whenever a nucleotide is incorporated into a growing DNA strand. The intensity of the light is proportional to the number of nucleotides added, allowing for the determination of the DNA sequence.

One of the key advantages of 454 sequencing was its ability to generate long read lengths, which are crucial for assembling complex genomes and identifying structural variations within them. Additionally, the technology enabled the sequencing of entire genomes at a fraction of the cost and time required by previous methods.

Impact

The introduction of 454 sequencing technology had a profound impact on the fields of genomics and personalized medicine. It facilitated numerous scientific breakthroughs, including the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the identification of genetic mutations associated with various diseases. The technology also played a crucial role in the advancement of metagenomics, allowing researchers to study the genetic material of entire microbial communities directly from environmental samples.

Despite the discontinuation of 454 sequencing platforms, the legacy of 454 Life Sciences lives on. The company's contributions to the development of high-throughput sequencing technologies have paved the way for the next generation of sequencing innovations, which continue to revolutionize biomedical research and healthcare.

See Also

• DNA sequencing
• Genomics
• Personalized medicine
• Metagenomics