Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has the capability to produce hundreds and thousands of DNA / RNA sequences per analysis. This ability to sequence thousands of sequences at a time has brought about profound changes in genomic research. The primary aim is to see regions of similarity or variation / mutation amongst many sequences at hand. Today, NSG has reduced the time and is cost effective. This reduction of cost and time to obtain genomic data quickly has provided information on gene structure, protein structure, protein expression, genetic variations, gene expression profiles and others. This range of information has now expanded genomics research from analyzing and studying rare genetic disorders, cancer, infectious diseases like COVID, Phylogenetic trees, animal research, disease and control in husbandry, oral diseases, and metagenomic studies.
The analyzed information has enabled diseases diagnosis, prognosis, targeted therapies, precision medication and other methods. The scope is not only restricted to human genome analysis but is used in disciplines like animals, and agriculture in detecting pathogens and developing new diseases resistant crops and animal breeds. Moreover, the NGS capacity to use massive parallel processing to sequence has had a major impact in pharmaceutical industry. New drugs discovery uses DNA / RNA sequencing methods to first identify mutations, to develop targeted medicine / drug development. NSG has a bright future in unlocking various mysteries and providing insights into genomic information which we have still not been able to uncover. This paper first talks about NGS techniques, challenges, techniques used, NGS uses currently, future development directions in sequenced data quality, cost, and analysis techniques.