DNA sequencing platform

The Solid System DNA sequencing platform is claimed to enable new ways of performing genetic analysis applications.

The system features high throughput, scalability, accuracy and application flexibility across a wide range of applications.

The current system is capable of delivering up to 4 billion bases of sequence data per run. Data accuracy remains at a high level of accuracy. Higher throughput and higher data accuracy result in lower costs for sequencing projects. As part of its early-access program, Applied Biosystems worked closely with customers and collaborators to expand the variety of applications now supported by the system.

The Solid System is expected to simplify the identification, collection and analysis of genetic information.

The system is an end-to-end genetic analysis solution that comprises the sequencing unit, chemistry, a computing cluster and data storage. The platform is based on sequencing by oligonucleotide ligation and detection. Unlike polymerase sequencing approaches, the system utilises a technology called stepwise ligation, which generates high-quality data for applications including whole genome sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), microbial sequencing, digital karyotyping, medical sequencing, genotyping, gene expression, and small RNA discovery, among others.

The system can be scaled to support a higher density of sequence per slide through bead enrichment. Beads are an integral part of the system's open-slide format architecture, enabling the system to exceed 4 gigabases of sequence data per run in Applied Biosystems' development laboratories. The combination of the open-slide format, bead enrichment, and software algorithms provides the infrastructure for allowing it to scale to even higher throughput, without significant changes to the platform's current hardware or software.

The system has a raw base accuracy greater than 99.94% after 2-base encoding, a mechanism that discriminates random or systematic errors from true single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

The platform's high accuracy, combined with mate-pair analysis, enables detection of sequence variation including SNPs, gene copy number variations, single-base duplications, inversions, insertions and deletions.