Genome Spot

Its that time of year again where we can reflect on the year that was, hit the reset button and focus on the trend that will dominate 2016.
Sequencing hardware This time last year, we welcomed the NextSeq500, NeoPrep and updates to HiSeq2500. Throughout the year there were further announcements from Illumina on the HiSeq4000 and the technology appears to be improving incrementally from here on. Indeed while cluster numbers have improved, there have only been modest improvements in read length and pricing in Australian dollars has not decreased as substantially as we may have predicted. I'm really excited about the developments in 3rd gen technology coming from Oxford Nanopore and Pacific Biosciences in that the read lengths and accuracy are starting to improve. The growing user base is definitely spurring improved basecalling and error correction algorithms that will further increase the user base. Metagenomics has really been the main beneficiary of 3rd gen long read seq and that …

The year has gone so fast! Lets go through some of the major points of 2014 and predict what 2015 has in store.

Sequencing hardware It began with announcements from Illumina of the HiSeqX10 as well as the release of the NextSeq500. Later, X-10 technology was included in V4 HiSeq2500 kits resulting in a substantial increase in sequence output from that instrument. There was also the announcement of the NeoPrep automated library preparation system that will be officially released in the 1st half of 2015. NeoPrep looks like an attempt to use microfluidics to perform generate libraries; if this is successful, it would be a major advance in reducing bottlenecks in sample preparation. Microfluidics are also able to reduce the volumes of reagents required, making the process cheaper. In addition, labour costs per library will be drastically reduced given that automation will be commonplace for routine protocols. Regarding 3rd gen platforms, we saw some mixed reviews from Oxford Nanopore MiniI…