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Finding the Number

Sep 03, 2010

Raphael Kopan and his colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis write in Cold Spring Harbor Protocols about a pyrosequencing-based method to determine the copy number of any allele from any genome. Their approach, called reference query pyrosequencing, takes "advantage of the fact that pyrosequencing can accurately measure the molar ratio of DNA fragments in a mixture that differ by a single nucleotide," they write. At Bench Marks, the Executive Editor of CSH Protocols David Crotty adds that "RQPS is rapid, inexpensive, sensitive, and adaptable to high-throughput approaches."

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