DNA sequencing technology for brain tumours

A team spanning neuropathologists, scientists, neurosurgeons and researchers at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), the University of Nottingham and colleagues in Germany is developing a nanopore sequencing-based approach that has the potential to transform the diagnosis of tumours.

The Nanopore sequencer, in use as a research tool at present, enables a radical new pathway where brain tumours can be diagnosed within just two hours of a biopsy being taken from a patient.

Dr Simon Paine, Consultant Neuropathologist at NUH, and one of the team developing this technology, explains about the potential of this research breakthrough, and the work underway to get this approach into clinical practice in future.