About us: Biology for anyone, anywhere
Oxford Nanopore Technologies is disrupting the paradigm of biological analysis. The Company has developed, manufactures and commercialises a new generation of DNA/RNA sequencing technology that is high performance, scalable, accessible and easy to use.
Our goal is to enable the analysis of any living thing, by anyone, anywhere.
Our novel, electronics-based DNA/RNA sequencing technology is being used in nearly 100 countries, for a range of biological research applications. These include large scale human genomics, cancer research, microbiology, plant science and environmental research. Oxford Nanopore's technology has been used extensively to support epidemiology and research in COVID-19.
As researchers continue to publish innovative science based on nanopore sequencing data, the technology is also being developed for 'applied' uses, where DNA or RNA information has the potential to be used to inform decisions in healthcare, agriculture, food and water surveillance, education and a wide range of other applied uses.
The technology is in the foothills of being deployed by clinical users for initial uses in infectious disease, reproductive health and tissue typing, with future potential for oncology, rare disease and other areas of healthcare.
In May 2020, Oxford Nanopore announced that for the first time it is developing in-house an assay with intended future diagnostic use: LamPORE, for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
About Oxford Nanopore
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd is a private company headquartered at the Oxford Science Park outside Oxford, UK, with satellite offices in Cambridge (UK), New York, Cambridge, San Francisco (US), Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, and a broader commercial presence that includes Japan, Germany, France and India. The company sells to nearly 100 countries and is in a period of rapid growth.
Oxford Nanopore employs about 500 employees from multiple disciplines including nanopore science, molecular biology and applications, informatics, engineering, electronics, manufacturing and commercialisation. The management team, led by CEO Dr Gordon Sanghera, has a track record of delivering disruptive technologies to the market.
The technology
Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing platform is the only technology that offers real-time analysis (for rapid insights), in fully scalable formats from pocket to population scale, that can analyse native DNA or RNA and sequence any length of fragment to achieve short to ultra-long read lengths.
Small formats such as Flongle address the need for on-demand, rapid, smaller tests or experiments, and can be used in labs or in the field. The pocket-sized MinION is a powerful and portable sequencing device that can deliver high volumes of long read sequence data. The benchtop GridION Mk1 can run up to five MinION Flow Cells at a time, on-demand, for larger genomics projects. PromethION is the largest format for nanopore sequencing, designed to offer on-demand use of up to 48 Flow Cells – capable of delivering more than 7Tb of sequence data in a full run, and is now being used in population-scale sequencing projects.
To make the technology suitable for any user, we focus on increasing ease of use and automation. Nanopore sequencing offers easy and rapid preparation, including a ten minute library preparation kit and the automated, programmable VolTRAX. We also provide a range of analysis workflows.
Supported by a broad patent portfolio, the Oxford Nanopore pipeline includes multiple generations of nanopore-based sensing technologies, including those based on both biological and solid-state nanopores. We work closely with a thriving community of users of nanopore technology, whose work answers exciting questions across a range of biological research areas. Read about their work in our resource centre.
Learn more about us on our company history page.
