"There has been an immense investment of time, effort and resources in the development of the technologies that enable DNA sequencing in the past 10 years. Despite the significant advances made, all of the current genomic sequencing technologies suffer from two important shortcomings. Firstly, sample preparation is time-consuming and expensive, and requiring a full day for sample preparation for next-generation sequencing experiments. Secondly, sequence information is delivered in short fragments, which are then assembled into a complete genome. Assembly is time-consuming and often results in a highly fragmented genomic sequence and the loss of important information on large-scale structural variation within the genome.We recently developed a super-resolution DNA mapping technology, which allows us to uniquely study genetic-scale features in genomic length DNA molecules. Labelling the DNA with fluorescent molecules at specific sequences and using high-resolution fluorescence microscopy enabled us to produce a map of a genomic DNA sequence with unparalleled resolution, the so called FLUOROCODE. In this project we aim to extend our methodology to map longer DNA molecules and to include a multi-colour version of the FLUOROCODE that will allow us to read genomic DNA molecules like a barcode and probe DNA methylation status. The sample preparation, DNA labelling and deposition for imaging will be integrated to allow rapid mapping of DNA molecules. At the same time nanopores will be explored as a route to high-throughput DNA mapping.FLUOROCODE will develop technology that aims to complement the information derived from current DNA sequencing platforms. The technology developed by FLUOROCODE will enable DNA mapping at unprecedented speed and for a fraction of the cost of a typical DNA sequencing project. We aniticipate that our method will find applications in the rapid identification of pathogens and in producing genomic scaffolds to improve genome sequence assembly."