Long-read sequencer PromethION 24

The PromethION 24 (P24), from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, is a production-scale benchtop platform for real-time, long-read, direct sequencing of native DNA and RNA. It operates up to 24 independent high-output PromethION Flow Cells at once and is deployed with the PromethION A-Series tower, which uses four NVIDIA A-Series GPUs for real-time data handling, enabling the generation of terabases of data in a single run. Sequencing is performed on demand: flow cells can be run individually or together with no sample batching required, and multiple DNA or RNA experiments can run simultaneously, with barcoding available for higher sample numbers. The platform reads DNA and RNA fragments along their entire length, from short to ultra-long (20 bp to over 4 Mb), and supports high-accuracy basecalling, methylation calling, demultiplexing and alignment in real time during the run.

Applications

> Large genomes and large-scale projects;
> Population-scale sequencing;
> Highly multiplexed small genomes or targeted regions;
> Isoform-level whole transcriptomes (direct RNA or cDNA);
> Isoform-level single-cell sequencing;
> Metagenome assembly.

Access and booking rules

Access to the PromethION 24 is restricted to CISUP members who have completed the dedicated training and are recognised as experienced users. No dedicated technician is assigned to the instrument: only adequately trained personnel are authorised to operate it autonomously.
Bookings must be submitted at least 3 days in advance. Each request must specify the exact dates, the start time and the end time of the session. A booking is only valid once it has been confirmed by the instrument managers; unconfirmed requests do not constitute a valid reservation.
The instrument supports a maximum of 3 concurrent experiments, where each experiment corresponds to max 8 flow cells (3 × 8 = 24 flow cells). Users requiring more than 8 flow cells for a single experiment must book two concurrent slots (e.g. an experiment needing 9 flow cells occupies two of the three available slots).

Note – data download and removal – The booked time must also include the time needed to download the data generated by the instrument and to remove it from the instrument itself. This operation must be carried out immediately after sequencing. At the end of the booked session, the instrument must be left free of any data.