UCI to study cutting DNA sequencing time

UC Irvine’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering has received a $2.18 million grant to research a method that would cut the time and cost of sequencing DNA, school officials said Monday.

DNA sequencing is a months-long and roughly $5-million process, so any convenient way of mapping the human genome could immediately improve healthcare and a patient’s quality of life, UCI lead researcher and professor Kumar Wickramasinghe said.

“We all have various modifications in our genetic code that make us more susceptible to certain diseases like diabetes,” he said.

“To be able to associate our gene scan with these diseases is very important and it’ll tell us what kind of diseases we’re going to get and hopefully we could treat them early.”

The school’s research team will blend the traditional Sanger Method of mapping DNA with Wickramasinghe’s personally developed nanotechnology to develop a faster and cheaper method of DNA analysis.

“If we could make DNA sequencing and testing available for all patients during medical exams by taking a simple blood test, we could directly impact the future of healthcare and create opportunities to improve a patient’s quality of life,” Wickramasinghe said in a news release.

UCI’s three-year grant was awarded as part of a $15-million initiative by the National Human Genome Research Institute to support the development of technology to slash the cost of DNA sequencing.

Researchers at other schools, which share the grant, are working to develop similar DNA sequencing processes that could be rolled out sooner than UCI’s program, which is expected to be available in five years.

Wickramasinghe’s method would cost about $1,000 and map a human’s DNA in a day.

The process will use an atomic force microscope (a Wickramasinghe invention) to separate the DNA strands, and then use a probe of light about 50 atoms wide at its tip to decode the sequence by detecting its chemical reactions at the end of the strands.

The process uses substantially less material and time.

“The technology looks really exciting and feasible,” Wickramasinghe said.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.