Ultima UG 100 Webinar

You should read more! Innovation and transformative economics enable extreme sensitivity and affordable sequencing at scale. 

The arrival of the Ultima Genomics UG 100 sequencer at the UMN Genomics Center in late 2024 is set to revolutionize NGS in 2025. During “burn-in” testing, the UMGC sequenced approximately 1,000 human genomes to ≥ 30x depth, carried out RNA-Seq and scRNA-Seq runs, and sequenced hundreds of Drosophila and C. elegans strains. Now, with the recent upgrade to the Ultima’s new Solaris chemistry, the UG 100 has doubled its output to 10-12 billion reads per wafer, reaching a throughput of 20-24 billion reads per day—or a staggering 100 billion using Solaris Boost for short-read mapping.

With this upgrade, UMN researchers can now access 10-12 billion reads for approximately $2,600, making sequencing more cost-effective than ever. A 30x human genome now costs about $110, while 20 million RNA-Seq reads are available for about $5 (both are in raw sequencing costs only). Solaris enables a new approach to sequence-hungry applications: 
 

• Whole genome sequencing at a lower cost than exome capture.
• Atlas-scale single-cell transcriptomics, now feasible on campus.
• Ultra-deep metagenomics for infectious disease and microbiome research.
• Affordable population-scale Skim-Seq applications.
• Model organism sequencing as a replacement for PCR-based strain verification.

As a direct application of these advancements, the UMGC has launched a $25-per-sample, 30x model organism sequencing service for Drosophila and C. elegans, replacing tedious targeted approaches for the analysis of genome edits and strain characterization.