Why is Sanger more accurate than NGS?

[kateveronica]

Hi All,

I have heard that sanger/dye termination sequencing is more accurate than illumina/solexa DNA cluster-based sequencing. I have been reading about both methods and am trying to identify the key point(s) in the illumina/solexa process in which additional error is introduced and accuracy diverges from the sanger method. I read that it is because illumina/solexa sequencing ‘requires PCR amplification’ of DNA clusters.
Is cluster amplification the main error-introducing step?
Why is this step necessary for the process to work, i.e. why can’t the incorporated nucleotide signal be captured while only a single molecule is being synthesized?

Thank you!
kateveronica

[atcghelix]

Here is one resource that talks about this issue:

http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v27/n11/abs/nbt.1585.html

[austinso]

Fundamentally, Sanger sequencing is equivalent to sequencing a single amplicon on an NGS and aggregating that information to a "consensus".

That level of redundancy buys the "accuracy" of Sanger sequencing.