Ressource pédagogique : 2.9. Whole genome sequencing

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Sequencing is anexponential technology. The progresses in this technologyallow now to a sequence whole genome, complete genome. What does it mean? Well let'stake two examples: some twenty years ago, to sequence the bacillus subtilis bacteria genome took something like ten years,thirty five laboratories and several millions of euros. It was partly a European project,now some hundreds of dollars and it can be done within a day. The human genome project, famoushuman genome project, more than ten years, three billiondollars, 19-91 dollars OK. Tomorrow certainly less than 1000 dollars per genome, it means that we can now sequence humangenomes, not one but many many human genomes for the sake ofcomparison, diagnosis and so on. So this is a good measure in theevolution of the sequencing technologies, a capacity ofsequencing entire genomes, not part of them, not one gene here, onegene there, the whole genome, to have access to the entiregenetic information of a living organism being a virus, bacteria,a human being, a plant and so on. Let's see what the ordersof magnitudes are. A virus like the influenza is ten tothe power of four letters nucleotides. The bacteria, typical bacteria Escherichia coli, E. coli in English: ten tothe power of six letters. Yeast, famous yeast, you certainly appreciate yeast, it's for beer for example: ten tothe power of seven.

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