Thermo Fisher Scientific Introduces Ion GeneStudio S5 Series, A Line of Highly Versatile Next-Generation Sequencers

Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced the Ion GeneStudio S5 Series, a new line of bench top next-generation sequencing (NGS) instruments that provides unmatched flexibility and scalability enabled by five Ion S5 chips, including the new Ion 550 chip, to facilitate wideranging experiments on a single platform. The new series also provides low cost per sample for small and large projects across multiple research applications.

The Ion GeneStudio S5 Series delivers the highest level of dynamic range and read lengths of up to 600 base pairs to drive more powerful and cost-effective experiments in multiple areas, including cancer research, inherited disease, and microbial and infectious disease applications. With the flexible chip format, the Ion GeneStudio S5 platform can accommodate two sequencing runs per day with data analysis, delivering between 2-260 million reads and a total output between .5 Gb to 50 Gb.

“In my institute, many customers outsource for exome and whole genome studies. They come to me for speed and flexibility for different gene panels tailored to disease areas of interest,” said Morten Dunoe, laboratory director, Molecular Genetic Laboratory at the Juliane Marie Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital. “This is the most elegant workflow on the market today. I can now offer a range of applications and deliver the data in the fastest turnaround time at costs that are competitive.”

Flexibility on the Ion GeneStudio S5 Series is achieved simply by switching between Ion S5 chips – not another sequencer – to match the appropriate throughput requirement for each project. The interchangeable chip format enables users to cost-effectively process samples in increments, eliminating the need to delay experiments by waiting to batch samples.

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As an example, the interchangeable chip feature can be leveraged when applied to Thermo Fisher’s newly expanded Ion AmpliSeq On-Demand Panels, which can be custom designed from a repository of 5,000 highly optimized gene targets that are relevant in inherited disease research. As users select their list of pre-tested genes that have been curated by disease area, they can easily match the size of their custom panel to the appropriate Ion S5 chip to maximize throughput, speed and cost efficiency.

The Ion GeneStudio S5 Series includes the Ion GeneStudio S5, the Ion GeneStudio S5 Plus and the Ion GeneStudio S5 Prime systems. Formatted for ease of upgradability, each delivers increasing levels of speed, throughput and scalability and is designed to easily integrate with Ion AmpliSeq technology and the Ion Chef System for automated library preparation and amplification, as well as Ion Torrent downstream bioinformatics and reporting tools for a seamless sequencing workflow.

When combined with the expanded Oncomine portfolio of assays for liquid biopsy and immunooncology announced today, the new series of instruments offers the industry’s most comprehensive, end-to-end oncology solution based on a single platform for applications ranging from research to preclinical.

“The Ion GeneStudio S5 Series and the wide selection of sequencing chips provide our customers the ability to configure their targeted NGS experiments with the most flexibility of any bench top system on the market,” said Andy Felton, vice president, product management of Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing and Oncology at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We are proud to deliver our newest series that is built on a platform proven by more than 4,000 peer-reviewed publications and national clinical trials.”