Sustainable Sequencing in the New MiSeq i100 Series
Illumina has launched the MiSeq i100 and MiSeq i100 Plus Systems, featuring breakthrough room-temperature storage technology for sequencing reagents. Led by Associate Director Erin Imsand, the team developed a lyophilization process that transforms reagents into microspheres, eliminating the need for cold storage and dry ice shipping. The technology incorporates over 140 invention disclosures and 60 patent families.
The innovative process removes water content from materials through sublimation, creating stable, dry microspheres that can be stored at room temperature and rehydrated when needed. This advancement eliminates the need for refrigeration and freezer space, potentially revolutionizing how sequencing reagents are stored and handled in laboratories.
Illumina ha lanciato i sistemi MiSeq i100 e MiSeq i100 Plus, caratterizzati da una tecnologia innovativa di stoccaggio a temperatura ambiente per i reagenti di sequenziamento. Guidato dalla Direttore Associato Erin Imsand, il team ha sviluppato un processo di liofilizzazione che trasforma i reagenti in microsfere, eliminando la necessità di stoccaggio a freddo e spedizioni con ghiaccio secco. La tecnologia incorpora oltre 140 divulgazioni di invenzioni e 60 famiglie di brevetti.
Il processo innovativo rimuove il contenuto d'acqua dai materiali attraverso la sublimazione, creando microsfere stabili e asciutte che possono essere conservate a temperatura ambiente e riidratate quando necessario. Questo progresso elimina la necessità di spazio in frigorifero e freezer, potenzialmente rivoluzionando il modo in cui i reagenti per sequenziamento vengono stoccati e gestiti nei laboratori.
Illumina ha lanzado los sistemas MiSeq i100 y MiSeq i100 Plus, que cuentan con tecnología innovadora de almacenamiento a temperatura ambiente para reactivos de secuenciación. Dirigido por la Directora Asociada Erin Imsand, el equipo desarrolló un proceso de liofilización que transforma los reactivos en microesferas, eliminando la necesidad de almacenamiento en frío y el envío de hielo seco. La tecnología incorpora más de 140 divulgaciones de invenciones y 60 familias de patentes.
El proceso innovador elimina el contenido de agua de los materiales a través de la sublimación, creando microesferas estables y secas que se pueden almacenar a temperatura ambiente y rehidratar cuando sea necesario. Este avance elimina la necesidad de espacio en refrigeradores y congeladores, lo que potencialmente revoluciona la forma en que se almacenan y manejan los reactivos de secuenciación en los laboratorios.
Illumina은 MiSeq i100 및 MiSeq i100 Plus 시스템을 출시하였으며, 이는 시퀀싱 시약을 위한 실온 저장 기술을 특징으로 합니다. 애리 인 임산드 부소장이 이끄는 팀은 시약을 마이크로스피어로 변환하는 동결 건조 과정이 개발되었으며, 이를 통해 냉장 보관 및 드라이 아이스 배송이 필요 없어졌습니다. 이 기술은 140건 이상의 발명의 공개와 60개 특허 패밀리를 포함합니다.
이 혁신적인 과정은 승화 과정을 통해 재료의 수분 함량을 제거하여 안정적이고 건조한 마이크로스피어를 생성합니다. 이 마이크로스피어는 실온에서 보관할 수 있으며 필요할 때 재수화될 수 있습니다. 이 발전은 냉장고 및 냉동고 공간의 필요성을 없애며, 실험실에서 시퀀싱 시약이 저장되고 관리되는 방식에 혁신적인 변화를 가져올 수 있습니다.
Illumina a lancé les systèmes MiSeq i100 et MiSeq i100 Plus, dotés d'une technologie révolutionnaire de stockage à température ambiante pour les réactifs de séquençage. Sous la direction de la Directrice Associée Erin Imsand, l'équipe a développé un processus de lyophilisation qui transforme les réactifs en microsphères, éliminant ainsi le besoin de stockage à froid et d'expédition avec de la glace carbonique. La technologie comprend plus de 140 divulgations d'invention et 60 familles de brevets.
Ce processus innovant élimine la teneur en eau des matériaux par sublimation, créant des microsphères stables et sèches qui peuvent être stockées à température ambiante et réhydratées au besoin. Cette avancée élimine le besoin d'espace dans les réfrigérateurs et les congélateurs, révolutionnant potentiellement la manière dont les réactifs de séquençage sont stockés et manipulés dans les laboratoires.
Illumina hat die Systeme MiSeq i100 und MiSeq i100 Plus auf den Markt gebracht, die über eine bahnbrechende Technologie zur Lagerung von Sequenzierungsreagenzien bei Raumtemperatur verfügen. Unter der Leitung von Associate Director Erin Imsand entwickelte das Team einen Lyophilisationsprozess, der Reagenzien in Mikrosphären umwandelt und so die Notwendigkeit für die Lagerung im Kühlschrank und den Versand mit Trockeneis beseitigt. Die Technologie beinhaltet über 140 Offenlegungen von Erfindungen und 60 Patentfamilien.
Der innovative Prozess entfernt den Wassergehalt aus den Materialien durch Sublimation und erzeugt stabile, trockene Mikrosphären, die bei Raumtemperatur gelagert und bei Bedarf rehydratisiert werden können. Dieser Fortschritt eliminiert die Notwendigkeit für Kühl- und Gefrierlager, was potenziell die Art und Weise revolutionieren könnte, wie Sequenzierungsreagenzien in Laboren gelagert und behandelt werden.
- Breakthrough in reagent storage technology eliminating cold storage requirements
- Strong intellectual property portfolio with 140 invention disclosures and 60 patent families
- Improved product stability and longer shelf life through lyophilization technology
- Reduced operational costs by eliminating need for cold chain logistics
- None.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / December 16, 2024 / Illumina
How Illumina's Erin Imsand and her team helped develop reagents that can be stored at room temperature
Originally published on Illumina News Center
Illumina recently launched the MiSeq i100 and MiSeq i100 Plus Systems, two powerful, compact benchtop sequencers that incorporate more than 140 invention disclosures and 60 patent families. On our News Center, we are celebrating outstanding employees who helped develop this breakthrough technology.
"If you're a kid who likes science, you sort of assume that your pick of profession is either a veterinarian, doctor, or astronaut," says Illumina Associate Director of Scientific Research Erin Imsand. "No one tells you you can make technology that makes a difference in the world."
In her academic and professional careers, Imsand has immersed herself in several different scientific disciplines-and this cross-functional experience has served her well. In fact, it may be her secret sauce.
She earned her bachelor's in chemical engineering and researched green energy in a project commissioned by Hyundai. She received a PhD in biochemistry-having never taken an undergraduate course in the subject. She ran a yeast biochemistry team making biofuels for BP before she realized that clean energy was moving toward electric vehicles. "It became pretty clear that I was not going to see the launch of anything I was working on," she says, "and that really matters to me."
At the time, Imsand had friends working at Illumina who said they "definitely launched products." She remembers thinking that launching products would fill her soul a little more. Imsand joined Illumina seven years ago in what was then called Life Cycle Management.
With a background in engineering and basic sciences, she fit nicely in Operations, in between the development scientists and the manufacturing team. She started working on some of Illumina's oncology products, such as TruSight Oncology 500.
After about a year and a half, Imsand was approached about a project still in the concept stage-what would become the NovaSeq X. She was asked to help incorporate lyophilization (better known as "freeze drying") into the product's sequencing reagents, which had previously required dry ice shipping and cold storage. If they could pull it off, the process could stabilize reagent biomolecules, raising the temperature at which they could be shipped. Through a lot of hard work, Imsand and a team of scientists were able to map out a way to design the first Illumina product to use lyophilization-and ambient shipping.
But lyophilization of sequencing reagents could be pushed further-in addition to shipping, what if the reagents could be stored at room temperature? Imsand, having now moved to R&D, got the chance to experiment when she was asked to run the entire reagent team for the new MiSeq i100 project.
"Liquid is like a mosh pit for biomolecules," she says. "They can jump around and crash into each other, and that mobility can drive the shelf life and thermal stability really, really low. That's why we tend to freeze our reagents." However, she explains, freezing only minimizes molecular mobility-it doesn't stop it completely. Ice crystals can actually move in the frozen solid. Lyophilization uses a partial vacuum chamber to reduce the atmospheric pressure on a frozen material to the point where its water ice can transition directly from solid to gas, a process called sublimation. This removes nearly all the water content from the materialthe same way food is freeze dried. What remains is a dry powder or cake (like with NovaSeq X) or, in the case of the MiSeq i100, microspheres. A cartridge is filled with these solid little dry balls, which are later rehydrated on the instrument.
Lyophilization enables these new reagents to last far longer than previous versions, and the cartridges don't need to thaw before use. "I think customers are really, really going to love being able to store the reagents on the benchtop," Imsand says. "No more refrigerator space required. No more freezer space required."
In addition to the microspheres, her team also developed the enzymes, fully functionalized nucleotides, and other materials that go into the reagents. Depending on the current phase of whichever program they're working on, their activities range quite widely, from developing analytical methods, raw materials, or formulations, to establishing the processes to make them. Over the course of three years, she has worked closely with a number of teams, including the flow cell team (her reagents work on the flow cell), the cartridge team (who fill the cartridges with microspheres) and the operations team, whom they collaborated with to transfer the microsphere-making technology into a robust manufacturing process that's continuously reproducible.
An evolving field and industry
What does it take to work with someone like Erin Imsand? "With our movement into lyophilization, we have graduated into a brave new world where you have to be a little bit equipment engineer, a little bit process engineer, a lot chemist," she says. An ideal candidate is "someone who's fearless, because there's not a ton of industry precedent for what we're doing." The ideal candidate can also integrate multiple requirements into one system. "A lyophilized reagent, for example, has to be moisture tolerant; it can't be super staticky or super foamy. You have to be able to think outside the box and not get too discouraged by hard problems." Imsand adds that a person could have a PhD or not, a background in manufacturing, basic chemistry, engineering, or another area, and still be very successful on her team. "What's nice is there's almost no way you could come in with all the experience needed. You have to learn on the job."
On the heels of launching two products that use lyophilization, Imsand envisions an exciting and innovative future for the genomics industry, and one that welcomes all kinds of talent. "We were the first company to do clustering chemistry on the sequencer-you used to have to buy two different instruments, one to do clustering, one to do the actual sequencing," she says. "We made a patterned flow cell using a more cost-efficient manufacturing process to help drive sequencing costs down. We've had these big step changes in the industry driven by Illumina. I think lyophilization is going to be one of these next really big steps and I can't wait to recognize my team. They were part of this, they did it, they pioneered it, and now we've just set a precedent that others will be following for the next decade."
Illumina Associate Director of Scientific Research Erin Imsand with the new MiSeq i100 System. Photo by Kristy Walker.
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