DNA equipment donated to The University of Western Australia

Equipment at the extreme cutting edge of DNA sequencing has been generously donated to The University of Western Australia.

The $100,000 Ion Torrent and an additional $30,000 in sequencing material has been gifted by businessman and philanthropist Charles Morgan, who in December donated $1 million for two brand new SOLiD next-generation sequencing devices. Morgan is also encouraging researchers with the incentive of a $20,000 prize to come up with some world breakthroughs.

The Ion Torrent is the very latest next-generation sequencer that has the capability to map and sequence DNA quickly and cheaply, which will be invaluable in detailing clear associations between specific genetic variants and disease.

It has been likened to a private airline by UWA’s lead genomics researcher Associate Professor Richard Allcock, taking fewer passengers but with the capability to do things that none of the others can do.

“This is a major breakthrough in the ‘mechanics’ of sequencing and allows a number of developments not previously possible including rapid run times, greater accuracy, more flexibility in the size of sequencing runs and a reduction in costs,” he said.

It is the first, and currently only, such device that does not rely on optics, fluorescence or light in any form. Instead, it uses a solid-state semiconductor-based chip technology - similar to a computer CPU - containing the world’s smallest pH meter as a sensor to determine nucleic acid sequences.