DNA Sequencing Instruments

Pacific Biosciences

Pacific Biosciences (PacBio), founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, pioneered Single Molecule Real-Time (SMRT) sequencing technology, which enables the generation of long DNA reads with high accuracy. The Revio and Onso sequencing systems represent PacBio's current instrument portfolio, with the Revio delivering high-throughput long-read sequencing suitable for population-scale whole genome sequencing, and the Onso offering short-read sequencing for high-accuracy targeted applications. PacBio's HiFi (CCS) sequencing chemistry achieves read lengths exceeding 15 kb with greater than 99.9% single-molecule accuracy, making it uniquely suited for resolving complex genomic regions, repetitive elements, structural variants, and phasing of haplotypes that short-read platforms cannot adequately interrogate. Researchers in genome assembly, metagenomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics rely on PacBio for projects requiring comprehensive genomic characterization. The platform's native detection of DNA base modifications (m6A, 5mC) without additional library preparation steps is a significant advantage for epigenomic research. PacBio sequencers have been instrumental in completing numerous reference genomes, including the telomere-to-telomere assembly of the human genome. Their Iso-Seq method for full-length isoform sequencing without assembly provides a clear picture of the transcriptome that short-read RNA-seq cannot match.