use 5.18.2; my $line; while (){ $line = $_; if ($line =~ m/(G)\1{9,}/) { say "$&" } } __DATA__ GGCTTTCCGTTGTTGCTGGGTGTGGGGGGCGGGCGAGATTGGAAGAGCACACGTCTGAACTCCAGTCACGCCAATATCTCGTATGCCGTCTTCTGCTTGAAAAAAGGGGTGGGGGGGAGGGGGGGCGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAGGGGGGGAG