Scientists at the University of Nottingham in the UKbroke the world recordfor decoding the longest DNA sequence back in January . Now , the squad , lead by   Associate Professor   Matt Loose , have done it once again with a deoxyribonucleic acid read 10,000 times as long as common – and   double that of the previous record book holders .

A favorable challenger   to   be the first to reach themillion - base milestone(that is , produce a DNA read of more than 1   million base ) was won by an   Australian team ground at the   Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics in December 2017 . But Loose and his colleagues apace becharm up   – and have since far exceeded that original goal .

fantastically , their most late DNA read ( from a human genome ) is a sequence with 2.3 million bases .   mensuration   that against the most common read length , which is a relatively   measly 150 bases .

" We were late instruct hoi polloi in Singapore how to use these sequencers at the same sentence as the grand prix . If the Singapore grand prix cartroad is the same as 150 bases , then a 2.3 million theme pair read is twice around the circumference of the Earth , "   Loose told theBBC .

So , how did they do it ?   The team adopt the very same technique they used earlier this year to learn a DNA chronological sequence 1,204,840 bases - long , a unconscious process callednanopore sequencing .

Essentially , it work by tunneling long strands of DNA through a small golf hole in a machine call a   MinION deoxyribonucleic acid sequencer . It then identifies the episode of the four bases   –   A ( adenine ) , C ( cytosine ) , G ( G ) , T ( thymine ) – using an electric signal .

Oxford Nanopore Technologies / Youtube

" Nanopore sequencing promised lower cost and higher interpret lengths which means that we can look at interesting organism which are yet to be sequence , because their genomes are inordinately big , " Loose say ina statementearlier this year .

It ’s all very exciting , but what are the hard-nosed diligence of this kind of breakthrough ?

Loose and his squad hope scientists will start to use method like this to study cancer genome , where the DNA is chop , changed , and rearranged   – like a puzzle with missing pieces and sections from other puzzles , excuse Angus Davison , a geneticist at the University of Nottingham , writing forthe BBC .

It also takes us closer to the day when scientist manage to sequence an entire chromosome , though Loose is n’t so certain that expectant a exploit is even possible .

" If we scale the nanopore up to the size of a human fist , then a megabase of DNA is a roofy of 3.2 km , which you have to string through your finger without it getting tangled or breaking,“Loose told Davison .

" I am not sure you will ever be able to sequence a chromosome from one end to the other . "

[ H / T : BBC ]