Illumina unveils benchtop DNA sequencer update with push-button workflows

Illumina is welcoming a new addition to its DNA sequencing lineup, with a pair of accessible benchtop instruments that incorporate the tech and chemistry used by its largest, top-of-the-line machines.

The company bills the MiSeq i100 series as a complete redesign of its original MiSeq sequencer, which made its debut in 2011—saying it can operate four times faster, and deliver same-day results while employing reagents that can be shipped and stored at room temperature, instead of waiting for cartridges to thaw.

“Our customers told us they need a faster, smaller, and easy-to-use instrument, and that’s what we’re delivering with the MiSeq i100,” CEO Jacob Thaysen said in a statement. “Whether you are an established next-generation sequencing lab, or looking to start sequencing for the first time, our latest benchtop instrument adds the plug-and-play flexibility that today's labs are seeking.”

The system comes in two versions, the i100 and i100 Plus, offering up to 25 million or 100 million single-end reads per run, respectively.

Both are equipped with push-button workflows directly on the instrument, spanning a variety of applications—such as small whole-genome sequencing of microbes and viruses, or targeted panels in infectious disease or oncology, the company said.

The devices rely on the set of DNA reagents, dyes and polymerases that Illumina has dubbed XLEAP-SBS, which was rolled out alongside the previous launch of the NovaSeq X platform—the refrigerator-sized, high-throughput machines that the company has said can push down the price of parsing a human genome to below $200-a-pop.

By comparison, the beefier NovaSeq X Plus offers up to 26 billion single-end reads per run with its 25B flow cells, each capable of processing about 64 human genomes.

Illumina said the compact MiSeq i100 series will begin shipping globally in 2025.