Tonight I watched the Update from Oxford Nanopore Technologies from NCM Houston. They started by explaining how the engineered motor protein and nanopore have been optimized for single-molecule high-throughput sequencing. There is an RNA-specific motor protein and nanopore. ONT allows for RNA modification detection, isoform characterization, and comparison of tails. RNA 004 is the new kit that is available with improved accuracy and yield. The new kit has increased speed. Base modifications can be detected based on characteristic signals and computational models. One example shared was the detection of M6A. The Dorado v0.4.3 update has new direct RNA features including detection of poly(A) tail length. Software has been optimized to detect DNA damage. DNA duplex sequencing detects both strands improving quality scores. One application is detecting modifications. They spoke about improving the consistency of accuracy further. They also explained the balance between throughput and accuracy. The new enzyme mutation of interest is E8.2.1 has a minor change and improved accuracy. They expect about Q20 consistently with this change. ONT plans on releasing this enzyme in Q1 2024. With the new basecallers being developed, they expect to hit Q28. Sean McKenzie spoke about high accuracy telomere-to-telomere (T2T) assemblies and the possibilities with new enzymes. Currently T2T require three data types: high accuracy duplex long reads, ultra-long libraries, and Pore-C. In trials, they obtained Q27 simplex ultra-long reads. Homopolymer accuracy has also improved. Rosemary Sinclair Dokos spoke about sample preparation kits and sample to answer workflows. The 16S, cDNA, and single cell sample prep kits have been upgraded to the v14. The high duplex flow cells are in early release. Q30+ is expected for high duplex. Algorithms have improved speed. The Mk1c will be supported until 2026. EPI2ME has been updated to have a robust human variation workflow. The data will now be available to transfer to third-party analyses and interpretation options. Dokos explained that they are working on end-to-end workflows for plasmids, AAV, amplicons… bacterial genomes, metagenomes… Dokos shared their roadmap. They will focus on increasing output. TurBOT beta testing is starting, and they are working with Tecan. In the new year, they plan on integrating MinKNOW with EPI2ME. That would be super useful!
