Ion Torrent Next-generation Sequencing

A short educational video on the semiconductor based Ion Torrent next-generation sequencing (NGS) - how it works and its applications in science.
Transcript: Next generation sequencing is a powerful technology which can interrogate many targets at the same time from just a few genes to all of the individual nucleotides in a whole genome.
Ion Torrent technology from Thermo Fisher Scientific takes an entirely new approach to Next Generation sequencing, making it massively scalable faster simpler and more affordable than ever before. The sequencing of DNA is done using a semiconductor chip similar to the chip found in your digital camera. While the chip in your Digital camera has a sensing layer covered with millions of pixel that translate light into digital information an ion chip has millions of wells covering those pixels.
These wells capture chemical information from DNA sequencing and translate it into digital information or base calls. The sequencing process starts when a sample of DNA is cut up into millions of fragments. Each fragment is then attached to its own bead and it’s copied until it covers the bead. This automated process covers millions of beads with millions of different fragments. These beads then flow across the chip, each depositing in to a well. Then the well is flooded with one of the four DNA nucleotides. Whenever a nucleotide is incorporated into a single strand of DNA, a hydrogen ion is released. This is how an Ion Torrent system sequences DNA. The release of the hydrogen ion changes the pH of the solution in the well. An ion sensitive layer beneath the well measures the change in pH and convert it to voltage. This voltage change is recorded, indicating the nucleotide was incorporated and the base was called. In essence, each well works as the world’ss smallest pH meter. The process is repeated every 15 second with a different nucleotide washing over the chip. For example, Cytosine, a polymerase incorporates the C nucleotide in the DNA strand when complementary G molecule is present. If the nucleotide is not complementary to the next base, no ion is release and no voltage change is recorded and no base is called. If there are two identical bases next to each other, two nucleotides are incorporated, the voltage doubles and the chip will record identical bases called. This process happens simultaneously in millions of wells. That???s why it’s often described as massively parallel sequencing. The ion chips help you scale the workflow to your research needs so that you can run both small and large-scale projects without the need to change platforms. And the semiconductor approach helps you implement a significantly faster NGS workflow. There are many possible research applications with NGS. From whole genome sequencing to identify association of genomic variation with different diseases to targeted NGS, where the whole power of NGS is used to interrogate a defined number of targets with possible significance in the pathogenesis. Ion Torrent technology from Thermo Fisher Scientific harnesses the power of targeted NGS to make sequencing faster, more scalable and more accessible than ever before.