Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., a pioneer and leader in long-read sequencing using its Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) Technology, today announced it has launched a new nucleic acid sequencing platform. The Sequel™ System provides higher throughput, more scalability, a reduced footprint and lower sequencing project costs compared to the PacBio® RS II System, while maintaining the existing benefits of the company’s SMRT Technology. Pacific Biosciences will showcase the new product at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting taking place in Baltimore, Maryland beginning October 6, 2015.
The core of the Sequel System is the capacity of its redesigned SMRT Cells, which contain one million zero-mode waveguides (ZMWs) at launch, compared to 150,000 ZMWs in the PacBio RS II. Active individual polymerases are immobilized within the ZMWs, providing windows to observe and record DNA sequencing in real time. With about seven times as many reads per SMRT Cell as ...