NEW YORK – Pacific Biosciences has launched a new benchtop sequencer in a bid to make HiFi long-read sequencing more accessible to potential customers beyond the company's traditional clientele of well-resourced core facilities and genomics labs.

纽约–太平洋生物科学公司（Pacific Biosciences）推出了一款新的台式测序仪，旨在使HiFi长读测序更容易为潜在客户所接受，而不仅仅是该公司资源丰富的核心设施和基因组学实验室的传统客户。

With a listing price of $169,000 and the size of a mini fridge, the new sequencer, dubbed Vega, is intended to help PacBio open the doors to smaller research labs that have not been able to afford its higher-throughput Revio platform, according to the company. PacBio also said it plans to bring the instrument into the clinical market down the road.

据PacBio称，这款名为Vega的新型测序仪的上市价格为169000美元，大小相当于一台迷你冰箱，旨在帮助PacBio向规模较小的研究实验室敞开大门，而这些实验室无法负担其更高吞吐量的Revio平台。PacBio还表示，计划将该仪器推向未来的临床市场。

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'One of the challenges that we faced is that we haven't had a full portfolio of products, and a lot of customers haven't had the funding to be able to buy a Revio,' said PacBio CEO Christian Henry. 'We wanted to create a system that any lab can afford and get access to HiFi sequencing.'

PacBio首席执行官克里斯蒂安·亨利（ChristianHenry）说，我们面临的挑战之一是我们没有完整的产品组合，许多客户也没有资金购买Revio我们想创建一个任何实验室都能负担得起的系统，并获得高保真测序。”

Effectively a miniaturized version of the Revio system, Vega employs the same SMRT cell and existing HiFi workflow for library preparation and data analysis. With one SMRT cell per run, Vega purportedly can analyze 600 full-length RNA samples per year or 200 human genomes, according to PacBio. The sequencing run time remains the same as Revio, which is 24 hours..

Vega实际上是Revio系统的小型化版本，它使用相同的SMRT单元和现有的高保真工作流程进行图书馆准备和数据分析。。。

According to Henry, one of the major innovations for Vega is the miniaturization of the light pen, a critical component within the sequencer that brings laser light to the SMRT cells for HiFi sequencing. By shrinking the size of the light pen, the company was able to 'dramatically reduce' Vega's manufacturing cost while reducing the instrument's overall footprint, he noted.

据亨利介绍，Vega的主要创新之一是光笔的小型化，光笔是测序仪中的一个关键部件，它将激光带到SMRT细胞中进行高保真测序。他指出，通过缩小光笔的尺寸，该公司能够“大幅降低”Vega的制造成本，同时减少仪器的整体占地面积。

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In addition, new robotics designs and improved base calling algorithms within Vega all play a role in '​​significantly' reducing the platform's cost, Henry added.

此外，亨利补充道，织女星内部新的机器人设计和改进的基本呼叫算法都在“显着”降低平台成本方面发挥了作用。

To make Vega more user-friendly, PacBio also 'dramatically simplified' the platform's operational interface, Henry said. The instrument only requires users to handle two consumable components when loading a run: one includes pipette tips and the SMRT cell, while the other contains sequencing reagents and libraries.

亨利说，为了使Vega更加人性化，PacBio还“大大简化”了平台的操作界面。该仪器仅需要用户在加载运行时处理两个耗材组件：一个包括移液管尖端和SMRT细胞，另一个包含测序试剂和文库。

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'We expect to see more inexperienced or new users of long-read sequencing come to the platform, so we want to make it as easy as possible,' Henry noted.

亨利指出：“我们希望看到更多缺乏经验的长读测序用户或新用户来到这个平台，因此我们希望尽可能地简化它。”。

Because of the lower data output, Henry said Vega's per-run sequencing cost will be higher than that of Revio. By his estimate, the sequencing cost of a 20X human genome on the Vega will likely exceed $1,000. At launch, the platform is also not compatible with the new Sprq chemistry, which promises to cut Revio sequencing cost in half, but Henry said the company is working toward making the new chemistry available.

亨利说，由于数据输出较低，Vega的每次运行测序成本将高于Revio。据他估计，Vega上20倍人类基因组的测序成本可能超过1000美元。在启动时，该平台也与新的Sprq化学不兼容，该化学有望将Revio测序成本减半，但亨利表示，该公司正在努力使新的化学物质可用。

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According to Henry, the instrument can be ideal for research applications such as isoform analysis, bacterial genome sequencing, or small-scale human genome studies.

据Henry称，该仪器可能是研究应用的理想选择，例如同工型分析，细菌基因组测序或小规模人类基因组研究。

But beyond such research purposes, Henry said PacBio hopes to deploy Vega into the clinical market for applications such as carrier testing, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, and targeted sequencing assays. To that end, the company aims to seek regulatory approval for Vega for diagnostic use, Henry said, though the process will likely take several years.

但除了这些研究目的之外，亨利说，PacBio希望将Vega部署到临床市场，用于载体检测、人类白细胞抗原（HLA）分型和靶向测序分析等应用。。

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It remains to be seen how well Vega will fare competitively against nanopore sequencers from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, which have thus far dominated the bench-top long-read sequencing market.

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'​​I think this is a really nice-sized instrument for somebody who wants to get into long-read technologies and doesn't have a large budget,' said Anoja Perera, director of sequencing and discovery genomics at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

斯托尔斯医学研究所测序与发现基因组学主任阿诺亚·佩雷拉（AnojaPerera）说：“对于那些想进入长读技术且预算不高的人来说，我认为这是一个非常好的仪器。”。

Having installed a Revio platform in July, Perera said her lab is currently not interested in purchasing a Vega platform, but she noted there are some unique features for PacBio versus nanopore sequencing that may make it appealing to researchers. 'One thing I love about PacBio is it's very standardized,' said Perera, noting that nanopore sequencing, on the other hand, sometimes involves 'more trial work' and protocol optimization, which can pose a challenge for a core lab.

佩雷拉在7月份安装了一个Revio平台后说，她的实验室目前对购买Vega平台不感兴趣，但她指出PacBio与纳米孔测序有一些独特的功能，可能会吸引研究人员。”佩雷拉说，我喜欢PacBio的一点是它非常标准化，他指出，另一方面，纳米孔测序有时涉及“更多的试验工作”和方案优化，这可能对核心实验室构成挑战。

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At the same time, nanopore sequencing also has its unique advantages, Perera pointed out, such as the ability to perform direct RNA analysis and ultra-long read sequencing, which cannot be achieved by other technologies. As such, her lab also installed a PromethIon 2 Integrated (P2i) system from Oxford Nanopore in recent months.

同时，Perera指出，纳米孔测序也有其独特的优势，例如能够进行直接RNA分析和超长读取测序，这是其他技术无法实现的。因此，最近几个月，她的实验室还从牛津纳米孔公司安装了PromethIon 2集成（P2i）系统。

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'I think this is an interesting move,' said Alexander Hoischen, a researcher at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. 'It makes the technology more accessible.'

荷兰拉德布德大学医学中心研究员亚历山大·霍伊森（AlexanderHoischen）说，我认为这是一个有趣的举动它使这项技术更容易获得。”

A long-time PacBio customer, Hoischen's team currently operates four Revios and is working on validating HiFi whole-genome sequencing (WGS) as a first-line test for rare diseases. While much of his group's efforts have been focused on WGS, Hoischen said, his institution still operates two older PacBio Sequel IIe systems to perform targeted sequencing assays, which amount to 5,000 samples a year.

作为PacBio的长期客户，Hoischen的团队目前运营四个Revios，并正在验证HiFi全基因组测序（WGS）作为罕见疾病的一线测试。霍伊森说，虽然他的团队的大部分工作都集中在WGS上，但他的机构仍然运营着两个较旧的PacBio Sequel IIe系统来进行靶向测序分析，每年有5000个样本。

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Covering up to 30 genes, these targeted assays can be powerful in analyzing genes with homologous sequences, which are difficult to profile using short-read Illumina sequencing, he said. Hoischen noted that Vega would also be a great candidate to perform targeted assays, though he said the team 'may or may not shift' from the existing Sequel IIe systems.

他说，这些靶向检测方法涵盖了多达30个基因，可以有效分析具有同源序列的基因，而使用短读Illumina测序很难对其进行分析。Hoischen指出，Vega也是进行靶向检测的绝佳人选，尽管他说该团队“可能会也可能不会改变”现有的Sequel IIe系统。

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As Vega and Revio have significantly different throughput and cost, Henry believes the two platforms will not compete with each other but rather be complementary.

由于Vega和Revio的吞吐量和成本明显不同，Henry认为这两个平台不会相互竞争，而是相辅相成。

'My belief is that [Vega customers will] become so excited about long-read sequencing with PacBio and HiFi that over time, as their projects scale, they will switch to Revio,' Henry said. 'This will certainly be additive to our growth, not subtractive.'

亨利说：“我相信（Vega的客户）会对PacBio和HiFi的长读测序感到非常兴奋，随着时间的推移，随着项目规模的扩大，他们会转而使用Revio。”这肯定会增加我们的增长，而不是减少。”