Roche and IBM announced today an agreement to develop a nanopore-based technology that will directly read and sequence human DNA quickly and efficiently. The novel technology, developed by IBM Research, offers true single molecule sequencing by decoding molecules of DNA as they are threaded through a nanometer-sized pore in a silicon chip. The approach holds the promise of significant advantages in cost, throughput, scalability, and speed compared to sequencing technologies currently available or in development.