Sequence determination by direct detection

A method for sequencing a molecular sequence comprising:

• supplying a sequence of nucleotides or nucleotide analogs to a sequencer comprising a polymerase and monomer types for the polymerase, each monomer type having a unique fluorescent tag covalently bonded a portion of the monomer that is released after incorporation of the monomer by the polymerase;
• exciting the fluorescent tag with light from an excitation light source;
• detecting a property of emitted fluorescent light from a tag before, during and/or after monomer incorporation via a fluorescent light detector;
• and
• converting the detected property into an identity of the incorporated monomer complementary to a nucleotide in the sequence.

A method for sequencing a molecular sequence comprising:

• supplying a sequence of nucleotides or nucleotide analogs to a sequencer comprising a polymerase and monomer types for the polymerase, each monomer type having a unique fluorescent tag covalently bonded to a portion of the monomer that is released after incorporation of the monomer by the polymerase;
• exciting the fluorescent tag with light from an excitation light source;
• detecting a property of emitted fluorescent light before, during and/or after a series of monomer incorporations via a fluorescent light detector;
• and
• converting the detected properties into identities of the series of incorporated monomers complementary to a corresponding nucleotide series in the sequence.