Oxford Nanopore Technologies has announced the presentation of DNA sequence data for the first time utilizing its proprietary superior performance electronic devices, MinION and GridION, and its innovative nanopore 'strand sequencing' technique.
During the presentation, Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ Chief Technology Officer, Clive G Brown discussed about the company’s direction to deliver a commercial product with superior features such as real-time sequencing results, high throughput on electronic systems and ultra long read lengths. The company plans to commercialize its MinION and GridION electronic devices directly to customers by 2012.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ GridION system comprises scalable instruments or nodes utilized with consumable cartridges that have proprietary array chips for sensing multiple nanopores. Every GridION node and cartridge is originally designed to provide tens of Gb of sequence data for one day, with the option to run for days or minutes based on the analysis.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies will unveil a new model with competitive prices comparable to that of existing systems available in the market. The company has planned for further price reduction by advancing its technology, especially with improvements in higher density electronic sensor chips and nanopore processing speed.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies has also reduced the size of these devices to design a disposable DNA sequencing tool called the MinION whose size is comparable to that of a USB memory stick. Its user-friendliness, portability and affordability facilitate DNA sequencing universally accessible.