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Commercial, USB-Powered DNA Sequencer Coming This Year

Posted by Soulskill on from the we've-come-a-long-way-from-the-human-genome-project dept.

Zothecula writes "Oxford Nanopore has been developing a disruptive nanopore-based technology for sequencing DNA, RNA, proteins, and other long-chain molecules since its birth in 2005. The company has just announced that within the next 6-9 months it will bring to market a fast, portable, and disposable protein sequencer that will democratize sequencing by eliminating large capital costs associated with equipment required to enter the field."

2 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yes, goodie by Theaetetus · · Score: 5, Informative

    It wouldn't be just one. They aren't reusable, so it's going to cost $900 per sequencing operation - apparently, you have to throw away the whole device afterwards.

    It currently costs around $30,000 per sequencing operation. So I'm okay with this first-generation model only reducing the price by more than 300:1.

  2. Re:Yes, goodie by Rutulian · · Score: 3, Informative

    Errr...that's $30k per genome (human-sized), not per sequencing operation. The device advertised does not do genomes.