Two years ago at AGBT, Element used the industry’s biggest stage to announce its first product, the AVITI™ System. In 2024, Element showed its ability to innovate not only sequencing but to transform the AVITI into a systems biology platform for the future of biology.
In a series of talks, poster presentations and a workshop on the main stage, Element and collaborators described how the new products launching this year, including Cloudbreak Freestyle, Cloudbreak UltraQ, Trinity, and Teton will help customers streamline their workflow, reach new levels of quality, and shift their science with richer applications.
On both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, Element welcomed an overflow audience for suite talks on how our technology is improving cytogenetics, sequencing quality, and cloud-based analysis, and extending AVITI’s application capabilities with new products to streamline workflow, reduce costs and generate even more reads.
VP of Informatics Semyon Kruglyak explained how Element is pushing the boundaries on sequencing accuracy by delving into the sources of error in sequencing data. Improvements to accuracy beyond Q30 may be beneficial for certain applications such as the identification of low frequency alleles or the improvement of reference genomes. “We went through a big characterization exercise, …and it turned out that when we looked at the high-quality errors, for the most part, they weren’t being generated via the sequencing chemistry,” Semyon reported. His team’s analysis showed that sample prep and data analysis accounted for 57% and 35% of sequencing error, respectively. “If you want to break through the Q-ceiling, you actually have to address some of those error modes,” he explained. Semyon then detailed the innovative workflow changes the team developed to address different flavors of error to reach a new level of accuracy for Cloudbreak UltraQ, the industry’s first commercial Q50 kit.
June Zhao, Sr. Director of Applications, shared data demonstrating the benefits of workflow innovations including Cloudbreak Freestyle and Expert Mode HD. June showed data from customers already using Expert Mode HD to generate higher throughput with applications where greater sequencing depth adds more value than incremental gains in accuracy. Cloudbreak Freestyle, coming in the first half of the year, eliminates the need for library conversion from nearly all application workflows while preserving data quality, solidifying our position as a seamless next-generation sequencing (NGS) option. June shared Cloudbreak Freestyle data from a range of applications, including methylation, proteomics, microRNA, and RNA sequencing. Together, these new capabilities simplify the customer experience while improving both quality and flexibility.
Delivering high quality data pays off for customers running assays such as OncoTerra from Phase Genomics. Phase CEO Ivan Liachko shared superior data achieved when sequencing on AVITI compared to Illumina and described leaps in cytogenetics made possible with the combination of OncoTerra and AVITI.
At our packed workshop, where organizers scrambled to add more chairs to the room, Molly He, Co-Founder and CEO, described Element’s innovation as “built upon relentless questioning of the status quo and asking what if, what if you can sequence even better, faster and more accurately.”
One of Element’s answers is the forthcoming Trinity assay, coming in 2024 H2. Shawn Levy, Element CSO and SVP of Applications, presented more details and early data demonstrating how this assay will enable researchers to move most of the upfront workflow involved in probe-based targeted sequencing onto the AVITI system, not only reducing hands on time but also significantly reducing probe consumption and improving capture data quality. Trinity will launch with a human exome kit, but Shawn shared a longer-term roadmap that includes customizable probe sets for any research focus area and the capability to tune background whole genome coverage for genotyping by sequencing.
However, the star of the workshop was AVITI24, a powerful tool that consolidates many different instruments and assays into a single box to study systems biology. Element shared further details about how AVITI24 enables detection of multiple analytes in a single assay by combining sequencing and cellular profiling on one instrument. Customers apply cultured, suspended cells directly to an AVITI flow cell with a special surface that enables cell capture. In one 24-hour run, customers can characterize cell morphology, DNA, RNA, proteins, and protein phosphorylation on a single cell basis.
At launch, customers will have access to three panels (Human MAPK/ Apoptosis, Human MAPK/ cell cycle, Human Immune Profiling), each targeting an array of analytes that together will yield a uniquely comprehensive view of a critical cellular pathway on a per cell basis, allowing scientists to make direct observations of how changes in an individual cell’s DNA or culture conditions translates into changes at the RNA, protein, phosphorylation state, and cellular morphology level. Customers who also attended the Wednesday morning suite were treated to an even deeper dive into the technology, presented by Sinan Arslan, Element scientist and AVITI24 project lead, and early access collaborator Dayu Teng, Co-Director of the Whitaker Institute for Biomedical Engineering at UCSD.
Element also announced multiple partnerships at AGBT, including the launch of IDT’s new NGS products designed exclusively for Element’s AVITI System, a collaboration with Twist Bioscience for comprehensive exome workflow for AVITI, and a collaboration with DNAnexus® to advance multi-omics analysis.
Finally, Element showed its playful and vibrant culture in a Willy Wonka-themed “Pure Imagination” party that attracted crowds until the wee hours of the morning. With candy stations, employees in costume, DJ Elevate throwing the dance beats, chocolate cocktails and a fun photo booth, Element’s party made a sweet impression. With such an enticing array of product offerings in 2024, we think Element customers will feel like kids in a candy store.
View Element’s posters and presentations for yourself by visiting our AGBT landing page.