The sequence of sequencers: The history of sequencing DNA

This was my first first author paper to come out of my PhD, spun out of what became the introduction for one of my thesis chapters. It’s very simply a review of the history of DNA sequencing, taking a brief look back at a field which often instead looks forward to the next big thing. In it I also discuss a formalised view of the first three generations of DNA sequencing technology, and highlight some of the key researchers and technologies of each.

This is a paper that I wrote with the intention that it would be of particular use to students new to the field, and I’m particularly proud that it seems to have met that goal. After publication it rapidly became (and I believe still remains, years later) the journal’s most downloaded and most cited paper, and one of the most cited reviews on the topic to date.