Oxford Nanopore‘s handheld MinION sequencing device is receiving rave reviews from the scientists that have tested it.
The mini-sequencer allows users to sequence DNA remotely – and could help track disease outbreaks, provide food security and prevent the trafficking of endangered animals. Given its low cost and ease of use, such a device could be an important way to bridge the gap between precision medicine and mobile health on a broad scale.
The device was recently evaluated by an independent international consortium of researchers, studying whether results on these devices are reproducible. Oxford Nanopore, a University of Oxford spinout, has long been a competitor for companies like Illumina.
Tackling Rising Drug Costs and Growing Popularity of GLP-1’s
See how Quantum Health is providing the steps to help their members tackle the cost of specialty medications and other drugs.
While the device won’t do whole genome sequencing, or conduct them with the same acuity as, say, one of Illumina’s X Tens, it can rapidly identify bacterial and viral strains, and determine genetic variants in portions of DNA. Although this long-awaited device is still used largely by academics, the idea is to commercialize these portable tools once the glitches have been ironed out. The Guardian writes:
“The exciting thing about this technology is that it simply hasn’t been possible to pack a DNA sequencer in your suitcase before now,” said Camilla Ip, a co-author on the latest study at the Oxford Genomics Centre.
Ip believes that people will soon be connecting MinIONs to smartphones, and with Oxford Nanopore due to offer a pay-as-you-go pricing model, that could transform access to genetic testing. “If anyone had the ability to do DNA sequencing with a mobile phone with attachable DNA sequencer, what could you do with it?” she said.