Detection in the new device is accomplished by the confocal fluorescence optical system used in Mathies' previous technologies, but the group is moving to other detection paradigms. BAC libraries are being used or developed for almost every extensively characterized genome. The number of human BAC clones generated is now close to one million. Simon also reported the development of a new BAC vector and an improved method of constructing BAC libraries. The larger-insert libraries will provide significant improvement, he noted, to applications in physical mapping, positional cloning, and DNA sequencing.
TAR provides for an economical, selective recloning of target genomic DNA segments.
UW and TIGR are generating sequence reads from BAC ends. A target of one STC for every 3 kb of the human genome will eliminate bottlenecks in contig development. Beyond use in human genome sequencing, the characterized clones provide excellent resources for biological studies. The STC resource is available on the Web for use by any researcher for clone or sequencing target selection, and the clones can be ordered from commercial resources. This involves generating a set of nested deletions from a common parent plasmid and recognizing descendants with progressively shorter inserts.