Introduction
Targeted gene sequencing panels are useful tools for analyzing specific mutations in a given sample. With targeted resequencing, a subset of genes or regions of the genome are isolated and sequenced. Targeted approaches using NGS allow researchers to focus time, expenses, and data analysis on specific areas of interest. Such targeted analysis can include the exome, specific genes of interest (custom content), targets within genes, or mitochondrial DNA. Targeted gene sequencing also produces a smaller, more manageable data set compared to broader approaches such as whole-genome sequencing, making analysis easier.
There are two methods for the targeted gene sequencing: target enrichment and amplicon generation. In the target enrichment method, Regions of interest are captured by hybridization to biotinylated probes and then isolated by magnetic pulldown, while in amplicon generation, regions of interest are amplified and purified using highly multiplexed oligo pools.
The difference between targeted sequencing and whole-genome sequencing is like below: