DASH-ing Through the Genome

Hybaid's Dynamic Allele Specific Hybridization system

Understanding the relationship between genetic variations at the nucleotide sequence level and human disease will profoundly change prevention and treatment methods in the next decade. The DNA sequence information produced through the Human Genome Project will reveal thousands of variations at single nucleotides, termed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Such sequence variations in DNA may disrupt gene function and be causally associated with human disease. In the near future, technologies for rapid, large-scale identification and/or scoring of SNPs will be used to design diagnostics and targeted therapies for disease.

Hybaid (Franklin, Mass.) released its new dedicated system for SNP detection, the DASH (Dynamic Allele Specific Hybridization) system, in July 1999. It provides a fast, sensitive method to score SNPs based on the melting temperature (denaturation) of target-probe complexes. The DASH system monitors the level of fluorescence emitted from a dye intercalated into the target-probe sequences...