PromethION 24 (Oxford Nanopore) is a stand-alone benchtop instrument designed for high-throughput, high-sample-number nanopore sequencing, also known as third-generation sequencing. This breakthrough technology differs from the most commonly used second-generation short-read (50-600 bp) sequencing: nanopore sequencing offers read lengths of 10-100 kilobases (kb), limited only by the length of intact DNA or RNA molecules presented to it. The modular design enables a new paradigm of a versatile workflow in which many different experiments can be performed in real time, without limitations of fixed run times. Utilizing the same technology as the MinION portable DNA sequencer, it offers real-time, long-read, high-fidelity DNA and RNA sequencing. A single PromethION can run up to 24 flow cells simultaneously. Each flow cell also allows processing of multiple barcoded samples. The PromethION includes a built-in GPU-based computer to enable real-time analysis with very high throughput and requires no additional infrastructure. Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS) has become an indispensable tool in all areas of Life Sciences research. Currently, long-read sequencing (LRS) will enter this field, as it has clear advantages over short-read sequencers, while the cost has come down to almost the same cost as short-read sequencers (depending on various factors): - Long reads are absolutely necessary in de novo genome assembly. - Long reads allow phasing of genomic variants and enable disentanglement of (complex) structural variations. - Since entire RNA transcripts can be sequenced at once: detection and quantitative measurement of RNA isoforms, non-coding RNA, etc., becomes much easier than with short reads. - Individual DNA and RNA molecules can be sequenced directly without the need for a PCR reaction, avoiding PCR artifacts, representative bias and loss of the epigenetic modifications. - Epigenetic modifications can be determined directly on RNA and DNA.

Therefore, this technology finds application in whole-genome sequencing, de novo assembly, scaffolding and finishing of genomes, variant analysis (structural variation, single-nucleotide variants, phasing), resequencing, targeted sequencing such as exome and cancer panels, lung amplicon 16S rRNA metagenomic analysis, RNA sequencing (splicing variant analysis, transcriptome/gene expression,
fusion transcript analysis, etc), metagenomics (unbiased), epigenetics, non-coding RNA activity, etc.