usb powered genome sequencer

The heart of the company’s design is a custom-designed nanopore, inserted into a polymer membrane that rests on top of a microwell. The membrane has a high electrical resistance, and a voltage is applied so a current passes through the nanopore. Each microwell has its own electrode. A user would pour some purified DNA into the cartridge, where it would flow over the membrane and through the nanopores. As the DNA strand passes through a pore, each of its nucleotides interrupts the current in a measurable way. This change in conductivity can be used to identify the nucleotide.
Whole arrays of nanopores and their microwells are embedded onto chips, using typical semiconductor manufacturing techniques, and these are inserted into a disposable cartridge. Each cartridge is built so the nanopores are tuned to sense specific molecules — like DNA, or maybe proteins, drugs or other compounds. A user inserts the cartridge into the sequencing node of choice: either the GridION node, which looks like an old-school VCR, or the MinION system, which is a slightly fat USB stick.