Swiss healthcare company Roche has rolled out sequencing by expansion (SBX) technology, an advancement in next-generation sequencing (NGS).
SBX chemistry combines an advanced sensor module to provide ultra-rapid, high-throughput sequencing that is flexible and scalable for a wide range of applications.
It is intended to enhance research in genetics, genomics, and cell biology, particularly in understanding complex diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative conditions.
The technology employs a complex biochemical process to encode the sequence of a target nucleic acid molecule into a measurable surrogate polymer known as an Xpandomer.
Xpandomers are fifty times longer than the original molecule and provide clear signals with minimal background noise.
The polymer enables highly accurate single-molecule nanopore sequencing using a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)-based sensor module.
Roche Diagnostics CEO Matt Sause said: “The science behind SBX technology represents a significant breakthrough that addresses the limitations of existing sequencing solutions.
“By integrating and enhancing the two technologies, Roche’s SBX has created a differentiated approach, offering unparalleled speed, efficiency and flexibility.
“The speed and accuracy of SBX has the potential to revolutionise the use of sequencing in research and healthcare.”
SBX chemistry was created by Mark Kokoris and Robert McRuer, co-founders of Stratos Genomics, which Roche acquired in 2020.
The technology allows researchers to meet growing research demands, enables significant advances in understanding genetics and disease, and helps improve healthcare outcomes.
One of the key features of SBX technology is its scalability, which allows researchers to process multiple samples simultaneously.
Its high-throughput CMOS sensor module facilitates real-time base calling and analysis, making sequencing operations more efficient.
The system is designed to accommodate projects of various sizes, from small studies to large-scale sequencing efforts involving thousands of samples.
Building on its versatility, SBX technology can be used for various applications, including whole genome sequencing, whole exome sequencing, and RNA sequencing.
Also, the technology shows promise for research laboratories and clinical settings where that require detailed genomic data.
Furthermore, SBX technology will overcome the limitations of traditional sequencing methods, offering high accuracy and a combination of flexibility and speed, said Roche.
Roche SBX Technology head Mark Kokoris said: “Solving the signal-to-noise challenge is a key efficiency driver for the technology.
“With this capability, we can flexibly operate across a range of throughput scales using the same sequencing system, which provides a significant advantage to users.”
