We are planning to open a research facility that will deal with diagnostic and research projects. The Ion Torrent PGM looks like a good option according to price/performance ratio.
Feel free to suggest me any other sequencers as well.
Comparison with other sequencers would be much appreciated.
Hi Anis,
Yes, Ion Torrent's PGM can be used for diagnostics. This platform received FDA 510(k) clearance for clinical diagnostics. It is CE-IVD marked as well.
Just keep in mind technical limitations of the Ion Torrent's PGM system: inability to correctly analyse homopolymers of 6 bases or longer (this is crucial for selection of target sequences) and slightly lower accuracy (important if you are planning to detect low frequent variants (
On the contrary I would say no, the Ion PGM cannot be used for whole genome. The Ion 318 chip will not carry enough material. My colleague runs a 63 gene panel on the Ion 318 Chip and she can only run 4 samples at most. You should be looking at the Ion S5 or if you can shift to the illumina HiSeq or NextSeq that would be more realistic.
Ion PGM is good if you plan to run small size gene panels only. It may be enough for diagnostics. But for large gene panels / exomes / whole genomes you need Proton sequencer or Illumina one.
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