Quantum-Si on Thursday announced the publication of a study in Science demonstrating single-molecule protein sequencing on an integrated semiconductor.
The firm said that by combining a semiconductor chip with time domain sequencing technology it aims to improve drug discovery and diagnostics.
The semiconductor chip contains millions of wells, enabling the cataloguing of many proteins in parallel and the understanding of how these proteins are modified at the single-molecule level, Quantum-Si said.
Its next-generation sequencing system detects and cleaves amino acids using proteins and enzymes derived from naturally occurring pathways responsible for similar processes in cells, eliminating complex chemistry roadblocks and the need for large, expensive equipment using other technologies, the company added.
“Researchers have used indirect methods to understand proteins and have been waiting for tools that would be transformative for proteomics in the same way that DNA sequencing has been for genomics,” Brian Reed, coauthor of the study and head of research at Quantum-Si, said in a statement. “Our platform’s ability to map protein modifications, which have been difficult to detect with other technologies, will greatly advance our understanding of the function and regulation of proteins in health and disease.”
