Oxford Nanopore broadens its Q20+ Early Access Programme and releases new nanopore, R10.4, into this early access programme
The Oxford Nanopore “Q20+” kit was first announced at the London Calling conference in May 2021, the Q20+ chemistry enables users to generate raw read sequencing data to an accuracy greater than Q20 (99%+) and additionally, generate Duplex data — with accuracies of 99.8% and above demonstrated.
Q20+ has been trialled by a number of early access users over the summer. Users have successfully generated data and shared results, and Oxford Nanopore has now broadened the Early Access Programme.
Early Access users of Q20+ will now have the opportunity to use the latest flow cell chemistry, R10.4. It is expected that this flow cell, containing a newly iterated design of nanopore, will be an upgrade to R10.3. It is anticipated that R10.4 flow cells will replace R10.3 in the Nanopore Store over the coming weeks. In internal trials, the R10.4 nanopore has shown a better signal profile with extended homopolymer accuracy and improved performance in consensus and indel calling when compared to R10.3.
Users trialling the new R10.4 flow cell will be able to verify its performance and share data across the community. Further technical information on the new chemistry is expected to be released during the coming weeks.
This latest update is part of a long-term, continual process of iterative performance improvements that are designed to improve user experience and enable broader applications on the platform.
Early users gained access to the Q20+ store and community, to trial the Q20+ chemistry on both R9 and R10 flow cells.
This also allowed users to remain up to date with the latest relevant developments, such as MinKNOW updates facilitating the Q20+ chemistry and basecalling updates in Guppy. As new versions of kits or flow cells become available, users will be sent a trial pack to assess and provide their feedback.
Find out more about it in the the Community.
Update: During the Nanopore Community Meeting 2021, Oxford Nanopore released the Kit 12 chemistry for a range of sample preparation approaches: Read more about how to access the latest Q20+ kits