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Top-down mass spectrometry offers the ability to sequence intact proteins—post-translational modifications and all—but is not yet a high-throughput method.
The benefits of laboratory automation do not come without considerable effort and patience in setting up the systems. Nathan Blow talks with two groups at different stages on the road to automation.
Methods that improve DNA synthesis with reduced error rate and those that facilitate cloning of large DNA segments will be valuable in rebuilding genomes and provide a stepping stone on the way to genome design.
In 2007, the next-generation sequencing technologies have come into their own with an impressive array of successful applications. Kelly Rae Chi reports.