High throughput system for DNA sequencing

A 768-lane DNA sequencing system based on micromachined plates has been designed as a near-term successor to 96-lane capillary arrays. Electrophoretic separations are implemented in large-format (25cm by 50cm) microfabricated devices with the objective of proving realistic read length, parallelism, and the scaled sample requirements for long-read de novo sequencing. Two 384-lane plates are alternatively cycled between electrophoresis and regeneration via a robotic pipettor and switching optical system. The instrument minimizes the DNA sample requirement to “1∕32×” Sanger chemistry, equal to typical genome center operation, and a 16-fold improvement in scaling relative to previous microfabricated devices. The 40-cm-long channels permit an increase in read length (several hundred base pairs) relative to previous multichannel microfabricated devices. These advances directly address the cost and automation model for adaptation of the technology.