Genomic sequencing could become household term with new hand-held device

Within five years, consumers may begin using a device smaller than a flip phone to monitor the air, test their food or diagnose what germ caused an upset stomach. And the root of this capability points to what now is only for scientists-genome sequencing. 

That's the message from a team of scientists from the U.K. and Canada teaching a weeklong class to about 40 fellow researchers from around the U.S. at Texas A&M AgriLife Research in College Station.

This course, a sort of "nerd summer camp for adults," was different, organizers said. Rather than instructing the art and science of genomics and bioinformatics on the multi-million-dollar equipment typically in labs, the class used the minION-a sequencing system made by Oxford Nanopore Technology. Basically, it's a hand-held device into which a sample is placed and then within minutes the sample's genome is translated into one's laptop.

"The mobility of this system is what is attractive about this device," said Dr. John Tyson, a minION instructor and research associate at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

The device has already been used to battle ebola in the remote jungles of Guinea and to sample both mosquitoes and humans for the presence of Zika virus in northeastern Brazil, according to minION instructor Dr. Nick Loman, independent research fellow at the University of Birmingham, England.

The minION represents an enormous leap for researchers who need a highly portable system for a couple of reasons, according to Dr. Charlie Johnson, director of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Service with AgriLife Research in College Station. First, much research takes place in remote fields where larger equipment cannot be used. And second, the faster the results come, the more quickly they can be translated into actions.