ABSTRACT
The advent of the Human Genome Project, which plans to sequence a large portion of the human genome over the next 10 years, will require ever more rapid and cost-effective methods for sequencing DNA. Further, advances in molecular biology that allow the manipulation and processing of DNA have resulted in the identification of genes and specific mutations linked with a variety of human diseases [1-13]. The use of large-scale DNA sequencing and various methods for rapid genetic screening will become increasingly important as tools for genetic diagnosis, which is expected to play an important role in the fields of molecular pathology/genetics. The speed of analysis for such largescale sequencing/screening projects is limited by the analytical tools available for sizing DNA fragments. The size of DNA fragments is generally determined by gel electrophoresis, which presently forms the basis for DNA sequencing, mapping, and screening. However, electrophoresis is time-consuming, not easily automated, and occasionally susceptible to errors due to possible irregularities of both the gel and the migration behavior of certain fragments. In addition, DNA-mers <50 base pairs (b.p.) long are often difficult to detect and size using current gel methods. The development of new rapid, accurate, and cost-effective methods for large-scale characterization of both synthetic and natural genetic materials has become an important area of research for the human genome initiative in terms of mapping genes, detection of genetic defects and mutations, and drug development.
