Flongle
| Flongle | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Oxford Nanopore Technologies |
| Manufacturer | Oxford Nanopore Technologies |
| Type | Adapter and single-use flow cell for nanopore sequencing |
| Release date | March 12, 2019 |
| Price | $90 per flow cell at launch |
| Website | nanoporetech.com |
The Flongle is a small, single-use flow cell, and the adapter that holds it, sold by Oxford Nanopore Technologies for sequencing on a smaller scale than a standard flow cell allows. The adapter fits into a MinION or a GridION. The flow cell carries 126 sensing channels, and the company launched the system on March 12, 2019, with flow cells at $90 each.[1][2] The name is short for "flow cell dongle".[3]
Design
A nanopore sequencing run needs a membrane with pores in it, an electrode under each pore, and a chip that reads every current. In a standard flow cell the chip, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), sits inside the consumable.[4] The Flongle moves the sensing electronics into the adapter, which the user keeps, and leaves the pores in a cheaper flow cell that is used once.[3] The user presses the flow cell into the adapter "with moderate downwards pressure until you hear a click", then loads the library.[5]
Each of the 126 channels is controlled and measured individually, and the specification sheet gives a theoretical maximum of 2.8 gigabases a run, up from 1.8 gigabases until April 2023. The company says a standard MinION flow cell produces "tens of gigabases".[2][6] Flongle flow cells have a short life: four weeks from receipt, after which the guarantee lapses, and a replacement if the first check finds fewer than 50 active pores.[2][5]
The adapter is listed for the MinION Mk1B and Mk1C and the GridION Mk1. The manual for the current MinION, the Mk1D, has a section on setting it up for Flongle.[2][7] Flow cells with the R10.4.1 pore, run with the company's Kit 14 chemistry, carry the model number FLO-FLG114.[8]
Launch
The launch announcement said the flow cells could "currently produce as much as 1.8 Gb of sequence data with headroom for more than 3 Gb". At that maximum, a $90 flow cell works out to $50 for each gigabase.[1] The company listed the intended uses as small-genome sequencing, targeted panels of amplicons, metagenomics to identify viruses or bacteria, species identification, and quality control for larger nanopore experiments. It described the setting as testing on demand "from scientific laboratories to farms and factories, healthcare settings, outdoor environments or classrooms".[1]
The release illustrates the quality-control use with a user. A researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that sequencing on a Flongle "is a good predictor of library quality and its performance on the PromethION". A library could therefore be tried on a $90 flow cell before it went onto a larger and more expensive one.[1] Starter packs with the adapter went on sale the same day.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "Oxford Nanopore launches Flongle, for rapid, smaller DNA/RNA sequencing tests in any environment" (Press release). Oxford Nanopore Technologies. March 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Flongle Adapter Technical Specification". Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Retrieved October 25, 2026.
- ^ a b "Nanopore Sequencing Adapter Enables Low-Cost Experiments, May Broaden Technology's Use". GenomeWeb.
- ^ "Flow cells and nanopores". Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Retrieved October 25, 2026.
- ^ a b "How do I set up the Flongle for flow cell checks and sequencing?" Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Retrieved October 25, 2026.
- ^ "MinION". Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Retrieved October 25, 2026.
- ^ "MinION Mk1D user manual". Oxford Nanopore Technologies. January 23, 2026.
- ^ "Flongle Flow Cell (R10.4.1)". Nanopore store. Retrieved October 25, 2026.