• Question: How does the PacBio RSII read DNA bases?

    Asked by to Ben on 20 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ben White

      Ben White answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      Hi @emshoward1709, good question!

      The PacBio RS II can read the DNA bases, and unlike some of the other machines, it can also read changes that have been made to the DNA.

      Throughout our lives the DNA bases that make up our genes (A, T, G and C) are modified to control how these genes are expressed. You can think of it like this- if you were reading a sentence and there weren’t any commas it could have a completely different meaning, like this:
      ‘It’s time to eat, kids!’ would become ‘It’s time to eat kid’.
      Changing from someone innocently telling their children it’s time for dinner, to someone saying they’re going to eat their children!

      Here’s a 4 minute video that explains how PacBio reads the DNA:

      P.S… I suck at grammar.

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