Table 1.
Comparison of ‘next generation’ methods for whole genome sequence. Costs per megabase are estimated based on price quotes (September 2011) from companies that offer commercial sequencing services
| Company (sequencing platform) | Chemistry | Read length (bp) | Total base count per run (Gb) | Accuracy (%) | Cost per Mb (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illumina (Hiseq2000, GAIIX) | Reversible dye terminators | 50–150 | 5 | 99.0 | 2.5 |
| Life Technologies (ABI SOLiD, SOLiD4) | Oligonucleotide probe ligation | 35–50 | 10 | 99.9 | 3 |
| Roche (454 GS FLX Titanium) | Pyrosequencing | 350–450 | 0.4 | 99.5 | 20 |
| Pacific Biosystems (SMRT) | Phospho-linked fluorescent nucleotides | 600–1400 | 100 | 85.0 | 15 |
| Helicos Biosciences (HeliScope) | Reversible dye terminators | 35 | 25 | 99.9 | – |