In principle, the concepts behind Sanger vs. next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are similar. In both NGS and Sanger sequencing (also known as dideoxy or capillary electrophoresis sequencing), DNA polymerase adds fluorescent nucleotides one by one onto a growing DNA template strand. Each incorporated nucleotide is identified by its fluorescent tag.

The critical difference between Sanger sequencing and NGS is sequencing volume. While the Sanger method only sequences a single DNA fragment at a time, NGS is massively parallel, sequencing millions of fragments simultaneously per run. This high-throughput process translates into sequencing hundreds to thousands of genes at one time. NGS also offers greater discovery power to detect novel or rare variants with deep sequencing.

^* Discovery power is the ability to identify novel variants.
^† Mutation resolution is the size of the mutation identified. NGS can identify large chromosomal rearrangements down to single nucleotide variants.
^‡ 10 ng DNA will produce ~1 kb with Sanger sequencing or ~300 kb with targeted resequencing (250 bp amplicon length × 1536 amplicons with an AmpliSeq for Illumina workflow)

Efficient Variant Discovery with Targeted Gene Panels

NGS enabled Franco Taroni, MD to identify variants in a fraction of the time and at a significantly lower cost than Sanger sequencing.

NGS Revolutionizes Reproductive Genomics

Viafet uses the VeriSeq PGS Solution, enabling IVF clinics to provide fast, accurate, and efficient PGS services.

Environmental DNA Offers a Powerful Look at Biodiversity

Sanger sequencing offered a "limited DNA snapshot." Now, Michael Bunce, PhD uses NGS to look at hundreds of thousands of reads per sample.