The Oxford Nanopore Technologies GridION Mk1 is a user-friendly, cost-efficient platform capable for long-read sequencing experiments (average read length: 30 kb). The technology based on nanopores for DNA/RNA sequencing. The Nanopores are nano-scale holes across an electrically resistant polymer membrane. When the sequencing experiment starts, an ionic current is passing through the nanopores. Any DNA/RNA base passing through the nanopore or near its aperture will cause a characteristic current change, which can then be measured to identify the specific base along the nucleotide sequence. It is a straightforward technique to identify every single base of the sequence, eliminating any amplification bias caused by chemical reactions.
The benchtop device is designed to run and analyze up to 5 different flow cells, and it allows each flow cell to start independently at different time or with different samples. It is highly flexible for the high demanding sequencing experiments. In addition, the 5 independent flow cells allow high-throughput data generation with up to 150 Gb yield.