Advancing genomic research in life sciences with highly accurate long-read DNA sequencing

Recent advancements in DNA sequencing have had a profound impact on life science research, spanning microbial, fungal, plant, animal, and human genetics and genomics. Long-read, singlemolecule sequencing has emerged as a transformative technology, offering unprecedented capabilities for genome reconstruction and revealing intricate genome structures. The recently released PacBio VEGA DNA sequencing system represents an ideal platform to harness the power of highly accurate, long-read sequencing, while it is complementary in its throughput to sequencing platforms currently available in Flanders. The highly accurate long-read DNA of up to 20 kilobases allow reconstructing genomes, detecting large structural variations at an unprecedented level, giving invaluable insights into genome structure and evolutionary insights. It also enables studying organisms across the entire Tree of Life with larger genome sizes, enabling addressing research questions within a phylogenomic context. Moreover, its long reads facilitate high-resolution, amplicon-based taxonomic analysis of microbial ecosystems, offering valuable insights into intraspecies diversity and microbial ecology. Acquiring the PacBio VEGA will ensure that scientists at the forefront of their fields can continue performing cutting-edge and impactful research and accelerating scientific breakthroughs in a highly competitive (inter)national context.