IntegenX, Inc. (IXI) today at the 60th Annual American Society of Human Genetics Meeting announced the launch of their Apollo 324™ System, a benchtop robotic workstation that automates the construction of DNA fragment libraries for next-generation sequencing. The system can prepare eight libraries in approximately 3.5 hours, with the products ready for amplification. PrepX™ reagent kits are currently available for the Illumina® Genome Analyzer and HiSeq™ 2000 NGS systems.
The Apollo 324 has an 8-tip pipette head with adjustable magnets and two Peltier heating/cooling units for PCR type plates. It can process from one to eight samples simultaneously, and offers preparation of up to 24 libraries in one day. Customized reagent kits optimize the performance of the system and are priced to significantly reduce the cost per reaction while ensuring accurate and consistent results. The flexibility of the Apollo 324 allows users to add their own adapters.
The system uses the proprietary BeadX™ In-Tip magnetic bead capture system to execute high-performance isolation and purification of nucleic acids and to automate end-repair, A-tail addition, adapter ligation and size selection.
The Apollo 324 employs a simplified reagent setup and an easy-to-use touchscreen interface, so laboratories with increased workloads and limited staff resources can easily avoid library errors while achieving increased throughput.
"By automating library construction processes, the Apollo 324 provides compelling performance and accuracy at a lower total cost per library preparation," said Dr. Stevan Jovanovich, CEO and President of IntegenX. "The unique efficiencies of the system make it well-suited as a foundational platform for simplifying next-generation sequencing workflows."