Ion Torrent Sequencing Data March 2011

We describe a DNA sequencing technology in which scalable, low cost semiconductor manufacturing techniques are used to make an integrated circuit able to directly perform non-optical DNA sequencing of genomes. Sequence data are obtained by directly sensing the ions produced by template-directed DNA polymerase synthesis using all-natural nucleotides on this massively parallel semiconductor-sensing device or ion chip. The ion chip contains ion-sensitive, field-effect transistor-based sensors in perfect register with 1.2 million wells, which provide confinement and allow parallel, simultaneous detection of independent sequencing reactions. The use of the most widely used technology for constructing integrated circuits, the CMOS process, allows for low cost, large-scale production and scaling of the device to higher densities and larger array sizes. We show the performance of the system by sequencing three bacterial genomes, and its robustness and scalability by producing ion chips with up to 10 times as many sensors and sequencing a human genome