Illumina, San Diego, has announced the availability of Nextera DNA Flex, a whole-genome sequencing (WGS) library preparation product that eliminates the need for sample preparation for whole blood and saliva, and removes tedious steps in the library preparation workflow, such as mechanical fragmentation of DNA, quantification, and normalization. Nextera DNA Flex offers a fast, integrated workflow for a wide variety of applications ranging from human WGS to WGS preparations for libraries of amplicons, plasmids, and microbial species, all compatible with any Illumina sequencer.
“The Illumina team has developed an entirely new technology that significantly reduces the number of steps in the library prep process, comprising the fastest and most flexible solution in the Illumina library prep portfolio,” says Giovanna Prout, associate director of product marketing at Illumina. “We believe that the simplicity, versatility, and performance of Nextera DNA Flex makes it a transformational technology for WGS applications and more. Yet, excitingly, it also represents a simple, robust, and easy-to-use entry point for ‘new to NGS’ customers.”
“Nextera DNA Flex represents a fundamentally new assay platform designed to support the development of multiple products, streamlining customer workflows and catalyzing myriad new applications,” says Kevin Meldrum, senior director of product marketing at Illumina. “The development and commercialization of Nextera DNA Flex reflects Illumina’s commitment to innovation and our team’s dedication to building comprehensive sequencing solutions our customers can trust. Furthermore, the core technology components on which Nextera is based can be utilized by our partners as library prep toolkit components to support the development of additional applications.”
While advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology have accelerated the pace of genomic research, many laboratories continue to experience bottlenecks during the library preparation phase of the NGS workflow. With multiple steps required both before and after library preparation, many labs contend with significant delays before they are able to start the sequencing process.
Pre-library preparation steps include DNA extraction, quantitation, and fragmentation, while post-library preparation steps include library quality assessments, library quantitation, and normalization. Nextera DNA Flex enables direct input of blood and saliva samples, eliminating the need for ancillary equipment and reagents to extract DNA and quantify sample concentrations prior to sequencing.
Some highlights of Nextera DNA Flex include:
Fast library preparation workflow. Saves time and reduces hands-on touch points with on-bead tagmentation, which reduces total library preparation time turnaround time to less than 3 hours.
Integrated sample input. Enhances library preparation efficiency with integrated DNA extraction protocols for blood, saliva, dried blood spots, and direct colony.
Flexible workflow with broad DNA input range. Simplifies daily operations with a kit that supports a broad range of inputs (1–500 ng) from multiple types of genomes.
Wide range of applications. Sequences human or other large/complex genomes as well as amplicons and microbial, parasitic, or fungal species.
Optimized library preparation performance. Obtains consistent insert sizes and high coverage uniformity with minimal hands-on time and automation-friendly protocols.
For more information, visit Illumina.
