Helicos, Pacific Biosciences genomics news

Helicos filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware alleging that Pacific's SMRT technology for single molecule sequencing of DNA and PacBio RS sequencing platforms infringe Helicos' U.S. Patent Nos. 7,645,596; 7,037,687; 7,169,560 and 7,767,400. The patents cover methods for sequencing a single strand of DNA by synthesizing a complementary strand of DNA using labeled nucleotide bases that can be optically detected, or "sequencing-by-synthesis."

Pacific Biosciences, which denies the claims, said its third-generation SMRT technology for observing single molecules in real time uses "a fundamentally different approach" than Helicos' methods, which it says uses a second-generation "flush and scan" approach. ...