Rheonix Inc, Ithaca, NY, has launched its NGS OnePrep solution, an integrated, automated method for DNA extraction and next-generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation on the Encompass Optimum workstation. The method will enable laboratory technicians to produce sequence-ready libraries directly from raw samples with significantly reduced hands-on time compared with current methods.
The NGS OnePrep solution streamlines the separate and distinct processes of nucleic acid extraction and NGS library preparation on a single instrument. Existing methods are typically highly manual or require multiple instruments to automate DNA extraction and library preparation. Even ‘automated’ methods for library preparation have disjointed, manual steps.
Utilizing the Encompass Optimum workstation, sequence-ready libraries can be produced directly from a sample in just 4.5 hours, yielding NGS sequence data and quality metrics indistinguishable from the more labor-intensive methods often employed by laboratory facilities. The NGS OnePrep solution offers the following benefits:
- Significantly reduced hands-on time and total time-to-results.
- Ability to process up to 24 samples in 4.5 hours.
- Reduced intra- and interbatch variability of NGS libraries.
- Reduced lab footprint and capital equipment cost.
Richard Montagna, PhD, FACB, Rheonix.
“The ability to automatically isolate DNA and prepare sequence-ready DNA libraries with a single instrument will help to reduce the overall cost of NGS for both research and clinical applications,” says Richard Montagna, PhD, FACB, senior vice president for scientific and clinical affairs at Rheonix. “By integrating all DNA isolation and library preparation steps on a single workstation, the Rheonix method not only reduces a 1- to 2-day process to less than 5 hours, it also eliminates the need for multiple pieces of equipment and dramatically reduces the technical skill required to successfully isolate DNA and prepare sequence-ready DNA libraries.”
Rheonix currently offers compatibility with the Illumina Nextera DNA Flex library prep kit. In the near future, the company has plans to automate other Illumina prep kits as well as those of other manufacturers, including the Takara Bio Smarter ThruPlex prep kit.
Initially, the NGS OnePrep solution will be compatible with samples from bacterial isolates, buccal swab, fresh frozen tissue, saliva, and whole blood. In the coming months, the solution will be expanded to handle samples from circulating cell-free DNA and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue.
For further information, visit Rheonix.
Featured image: The Encompass Optimum workstation from Rheonix.
I agree that one instrument being able to isolate DNA and prepare it for sequencing could help reduce overall cost. DNA sequencing can really help us understand ourselves more. If we can make it as cheap as possible then that is what we should focus most on.