Abstract

Much research effort has been made to realize a single-molecule sequencing. Central to this project are two enzymatic tasks that challenged several biochemists during the last years. They searched for polymerases for copying a DNA target into completely fluorophore-labeled DNA as well as for handling this new DNA derivative. Furthermore, they studied exonucleases for the sequential hydrolysis of completely dye-labeled DNA and explored optimal conditions for future application on the single-molecule level. In this article, the recent advances will be summarized from the biochemists point of view.

Keywords: dna sequencing, single-molecule detection, dna polymerase, exonuclease, fluorescence