Today we’re pleased to announce the release of a new version of Sequel Software (V5.1) and a new polymerase. Combined, these upgrades increase throughput and overall performance for key SMRT Sequencing applications such as de novo assembly, structural variant detection, targeted sequencing, and RNA sequencing using the Iso-Seq method. Orders for the new products can be submitted today. With this release, the Sequel System can achieve up to 10 Gb per SMRT Cell for de novo genome assembly, effectively doubling the throughput when using ultra-long inserts (>40 kb). For targeted and RNA sequencing, customers can achieve up to 20 Gb…
Nematodes are both simple and complex, making them one of the most attractive animal taxa to study basic biological processes, including genome evolution. Studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, for instance, have provided invaluable insights into almost all aspects of biology, from developmental to neurobiology and human diseases. However, the high degree of fragmentation of current genome assemblies for many organisms complicates almost all types of genomic analysis. As the authors of a recent Cell Reports paper, Single-Molecule Sequencing Reveals the Chromosome-Scale Genomic Architecture of the Nematode Model Organism Pristionchus pacificus, point out, “general questions of chromosome evolution cannot be…
We’re pleased to be teaming up with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute on a project to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary: generating high-quality genome assemblies for 25 species that are integral to the ecosystems found in the United Kingdom. For this work, Sanger scientists will use the Sequel System and complementary technologies to produce reference-grade assemblies. Twenty organisms have already been selected, and the last five will be chosen by a public vote reminiscent of our own SMRT Grant program, which earlier this year saw dingo beat out bombardier beetle, sea slug, temple pitviper, and pink pigeon for the coveted sequencing…
If you weren’t at the 36th International Society for Animal Genetics Conference in Dublin, you missed more than a chance to drink Guinness and practice an Irish brogue. The PacBio team had a great time at ISAG, learning about the latest in animal science and updating attendees on the advantages of SMRT Sequencing for generating high-quality genome assemblies and annotations. The conference drew more than 750 scientists from around the world, and we were truly impressed by the quality of research they presented in talks and posters. Long-read PacBio sequencing is already making a difference for scientists in this community,…
[caption id="attachment_17648" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo by Luke Elstad[/caption] The Global Ant Genomics Alliance (GAGA) recently announced that it has adopted SMRT Sequencing as its technology of choice for generating high-quality genome assemblies. The alliance, made up of more than 50 scientists at dozens of institutions around the world, aims to sequence 200 ant species to provide a comprehensive look at genomic diversity across ant genera and to provide the scientific community with a foundation of data to enable decades worth of research. GAGA teamed up with genomic service provider Novogene, which agreed to purchase 10 Sequel Systems earlier this year. In…
We were delighted to have so many ASHG attendees join our workshop, titled “Discovering and Targeting Causative Variation Underlying Human Genetic Disease Using SMRT Sequencing.” If you missed it, check out the video recordings, or read our summary below. The event featured three impressive customer presentations, beginning with Euan Ashley from Stanford University. In his presentation titled “Towards Precision Medicine,” He started off by acknowledging that “genomic medicine is here” and described how genomes and exomes are now routinely sequenced on a daily basis, with impressive genetic discovery results. For patients with rare and undiagnosed disease, Ashley reported…
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be working closely with two programs that are committing significant resources toward generating reference-quality genomes of thousands of vertebrate species. Both the Genome 10K (G10K) and Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K) initiatives have invested in SMRT Sequencing to build high-quality de novo genome assemblies for the next phase of their programs. By sequencing large numbers of vertebrates, the groups hope to develop resources that will be useful for species conservation efforts in the future. The G10K project was established in 2009 by a consortium of biologists and genome scientists, including Duke neurobiologist Erich Jarvis, Steve…
An updated case study about the Genomics Resource Center (GRC) at the University of Maryland’s Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) reports that SMRT Sequencing has become an integral tool for generating complete microbial genomes, improving plant and animal genome assemblies, and exploring human genome variation. The GRC has a scientific pedigree and a sample-to-interpretation service commitment that place it in a league of its own. The team operates under a simple mantra: ‘If it can be sequenced, we can do it.’ Both the GRC and IGS were founded in 2007 when a high-powered team of investigators formerly at The Institute…
Happy DNA Day, everyone! This scientific celebration has us reflecting on the many advancements the community has made in the past year. For a molecule that is sequenced thousands of times a day all over the world, there is still much to learn. Today we’d like to honor some of the remarkable science enabled by SMRT Sequencing since last year’s DNA Day. Scientists have continued to make progress exploring regions of the genome that have long been considered intractable. Two of our favorite stories this year came from the always-challenging Y chromosome. Researchers studying the mosquitoes that carry malaria…
This month serves as the 15th anniversary of the first publication of the human genome by both public and private efforts. PacBio CEO Mike Hunkapiller was a central player in both efforts as the leader of Applied Biosystems, the company that developed and supplied the automated Sanger-based sequencing technology that made the projects possible. In honor of the occasion, Mendelspod host Theral Timpson asked Mike to join him in a commemorative conversation to discuss his memories of the project, as well as how genome sequencing technology has developed since. Mike talked about what was happening behind the scenes of these…
On the final day of AGBT, attendees strapped in for the last talks of the conference before the ’80s-themed dance party to close out the meeting. Two of those talks focused on SMRT Sequencing, one including new data from our Sequel System. Christopher Hill from the Eichler lab at the University of Washington gave a fascinating talk on creating reference-grade assemblies for the great ape species. These resources will be incredibly helpful for shedding light on biological mechanisms behind speech, disease, neurological behavior, and other traits that separate us from our closest primate relatives. Current assemblies for these apes — including bonobo,…
We’re packing our bags for Orlando and the 17th annual Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference! While we’ll miss the usual Marco Island setting, this year’s talks and posters look as appealing as ever. And as a meeting sponsor, we’ll be right in the thick of it — with a workshop, party, and coffee-lounge-style hospitality suite for AGBT attendees. It’s a thrill to see that more than 40 talks and posters will showcase SMRT Sequencing data, many for human biomedical research applications. Customer presentations include a talk from the National Center for Biotechnology Information on evolving approaches to…
We’re already looking forward to next month’s Personalized Medicine World Conference. Long before “precision medicine” was an industry catchphrase, PMWC was bringing together stakeholders from genomics companies and academic research, regulatory agencies, clinical groups, pharma/biotech, and more. Launched in 2009, the meeting has prompted important discussions as well as insight about how to move the field forward in a thoughtful way. From January 24th to the 27th, some 1,200 PMWC attendees will descend on the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. The event will kick off with a reception honoring the four awardees of this conference: Merck’s Roger Perlmutter…
This week the Festival of Genomics comes to the West Coast, and we’re excited to be a founding sponsor of the Front Line Genomics organization. Not only is it our first chance to show off the new Sequel System in our home state, but there will also be a number of great talks reporting SMRT Sequencing results. Here are the some of the presentations to consider if you’re attending the event: Wednesday, November 4 11:30 a.m. Ali Bashir, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Uncovering Neglected Regions of the Human Genome: Assembly and Architecture via Single Molecule Technologies 12:00…
We’re looking forward to the year’s biggest scientific meeting focused on human genetics next week — the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2015 annual meeting, taking place in Baltimore, Maryland. SMRT® Sequencing will be featured in 36 scientific presentations, as well as our lunchtime workshop. Even if you’re not attending you can attend our workshop virtually to learn more about our newest SMRT Sequencer – the Sequel™ System — and about the latest uses of SMRT Sequencing for human biomedical applications. Our workshop, “Addressing Hidden Heritability through Long-Read Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) Sequencing” will be held on Wednesday, October 7, from…