PROVIDENCE — Two tiny biotechnology companies spawned out of Brown University research labs said yesterday that they will come together in an all-stock transaction.

NABsys Inc. acquired GeneSpectrum this week to pursue a proprietary method for sequencing human genomes — known as Hybridization-Assisted Nanopore Sequencing.

“The data and expertise that GeneSpectrum has accumulated in the areas of probe design and DNA hybridization will be invaluable to the sequencing platform that NABsys is pursuing,” said Barrett Bready, chief executive officer at NABsys.

Research into the human genome and DNA sequencing is expected to one day uncover links between aberrant genes and diseases.

DNA sequences encode the information living organisms need to survive and multiply. Understanding the DNA sequencing in humans is expected to help scientists and doctors identify, diagnose and potentially develop treatments for genetic diseases. Sequencing is also expected to lead to treatments for contagious diseases.

The complexity of DNA mapping creates staggering research costs. The U.S. Human Genome Project took 13 years and $2.7 billion to complete. According to the National Institutes of Health, it costs $10 million to sequence a single person’s genome.

Researchers are now looking for cheaper ways to undertake such mapping work.

NABsys aims to cut the cost to less than $1,000.

“The combination of the NABsys and GeneSpectrum technologies will enable the combined DNA sequencing platform to sequence DNA orders of magnitude less expensively and with better information content than any technology currently available,” said Dr. John S. Oliver, GeneSpectrum’s co-founder.

Oliver will join NABsys as vice president of research and development.

NABsys is working in collaboration with Dr. Xinsheng “Sean” Ling, a professor of physics at Brown University.

Brown University also has an ownership stake in the startup. The university licenses to the company the exclusive rights to use intellectual property developed at Brown.

The state’s Slater Technology Fund is supporting NABsys, having loaned it $225,000 last year.