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Molecular biology

Power sequencing

Nature volume 453, pages 1197–1198 (2008)Cite this article

Advances in DNA-sequencing technology provide unprecedented insight into the entire collection of four genomes' transcribed sequences. They herald a new era in the study of gene regulation and genome function.

Genomes are the blueprints of life: they contain all the information necessary to build and operate their hosts. But we still have much to learn about the language of DNA to interpret the billions of Gs, As, Ts and Cs, the DNA bases that spell out life. The information-containing portions of genomes are transcribed into two RNA classes: messenger RNAs, which are translated into proteins; and non-coding RNAs, which have regulatory and mechanical roles. So studying the transcribed portion of the genome — the transcriptome — significantly aids gene identification, as well as providing insight into the inner workings of the genome and the biology of an organism. Five recent papers1,2,3,4,5, including one on page 1239 of this issue by Wilhelm et al.1, describe how advances in DNA-sequencing technology can be harnessed to explore transcriptomes in remarkable detail.

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Figure 1: mRNA-Seq.
Figure 2: Determining mRNA expression levels with mRNA-Seq.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brenton R. Graveley is in the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Stem Cell Institute, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030, USA. graveley@neuron.uchc.edu,

    Brenton R. Graveley

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  1. Brenton R. Graveley
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Graveley, B. Power sequencing. Nature 453, 1197–1198 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/4531197b

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