Whole Genome Sequencing: Advantages of de Novo Hybrid Approach Utilising Illumina and Nanopore Technologies

The groundwork for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) was laid by pioneering methods developed by Allan Maxam, Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger, a Nobel laureate. While the Sanger method remained standard for many years, technological advancements have led to the widespread adoption of NGS in genomics. NGS has revolutionised genetic diagnostics, significantly improving the speed and accuracy of disease detection. First-generation sequencing, which required labourious efforts to sequence small portions of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), has now evolved into advanced techniques capable of decoding entire genomes within a day. The introduction of second- and third-generation sequencing has further improved cost-efficiency, speed and precision. The vast amount of data produced through NGS requires sophisticated bioinformatics tools for analysis, which has accelerated advancements in NGS technology. This review provides an in-depth exploration of various NGS techniques, highlighting the advantages of a de novo hybrid approach utilising Illumina and Nanopore for bacterial genome sequencing.