DNA sequencing with Semiconductor chips – Ion Torrent

August 14, 2012
1 pm - 2 pm
196 Boston Ave, 4th Floor, Conference Room
Speaker: Vasisht Tadigotla, Life Technologies

Abstract

Ion Torrent™ Technology directly translates chemically encoded information (A, C, G, T) into digital information (0, 1) on a semiconductor chip using simple sequencing chemistry including natural nucleotides, no enzymatic cascade, no fluorescence, no chemiluminescence, no optics, no light This approach marries simple chemistry to proprietary semiconductor technology-its Watson meets Moore. The result is a sequencing technology that is simpler, faster, more cost effective and scalable than any other technology available. Between the benchtop Ion PGM™ Sequencer and the benchtop Ion Proton™ Sequencer, the Ion Torrent technology can cover any application. The Ion PGM™ Sequencer is ideal for sequencing genes, small genomes, panels of genes, or performing gene expression profiling.

The Ion Proton™ Sequencer is ideal for sequencing both exomes – regions in the DNA that code for protein – and human genomes. The semiconductor has transformed every industry it's touched. Just as the microprocessor enabled desktop computing to displace the mainframe, semiconductor technology will inevitably democratize sequencing, putting it within the reach of any lab or clinic.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Vasisht Tadigotla got his Bachelors in Biochemical Engineering from IIT Delhi and PhD in Computational Biology and Biophysics from Rutgers University where he developed quantitative models of RNA transcription using methods from statistical mechanics. As a Research Scientist at Boston University he worked on model selection criteria for time series data. Since 2009 he has been working at Life Technologies in the SOLiD sequencing R&D group developing error correction codes for sequencing. More recently he has been working in the core technology development group in the Ion Torrent division.