Bigelow Laboratory’s Single Cell Genomics Center has long been at the forefront of advancing single-cell sequencing technology to better understand the vast and diverse world of ocean microbes. Those efforts just took another major leap forward.
In partnership with Atrandi Biosciences, a Lithuania-based biotechnology company, researchers have published a new approach for single-cell genetic sequencing that will enable scientists to read the genomes of individual cells and viral particles in the environment more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively.
Environmental microcompartment genomics will help increase the throughput and quality of single-particle sequencing, allowing scientists to look at the microbial community more holistically, especially when it comes to marine viruses.
Already, in the new study, the researchers showcase how the method is helping them identify and describe viruses in the Gulf of Maine, including those with unusual DNA chemistry.
