Powering another wave of metagenomics and the discovery of the microbiome

The landscape of metagenomics and microbiome research is evolving at reversed speed. With the increase in sequencing and high resolution demand technology, microbial data free of privilege increases, the bottleneck moves from the sequencing to the quality of the sample preparation. The heart of this transformation is ICONPCR – a new TERMOCOCYCLER platform, which quickly becomes necessary for scientists who want to cross the boundaries of what is possible in profiling microorganisms.

Challenge: PCR as a limiting factor

For years, the conventional PCR has been both a working horse and a weak link Microbiome work flows. PCR methods with a permanent cycle often force scientists to guess: too few cycles and you risk resignation samples; Too much and you introduce chimeras, bias of strengthening and wasted sequencing ability. Result? Damaged data quality, lost diversity and labor -intensive stages of normalization that slow down the discovery.

Solution: Autonorm Iconpcr^™ technology

ICONPCR, developed by the N6, basically introduces a new approach: real -time monitoring and an adaptation cycle. Autonorm technology tracks strengthening in every well and automatically ends PCR at an optimal point, eliminating guessing and the effects of traditional work flows.

In the latest application note together with Pacbio, ICONPCR integration with long -term sequencing Pacbio has unlocked a new standard of microorganism profiling. Compared to the conventional PCR, provided IkonPCR:

• Zero Chimeras in all samples
• Up to 10x more unique amplikone sequence variants (ASV)
• A significantly higher alpha variety (chao1, Shannon, Simpson Indices)
• Increased detection of rare and previously undetectable taxa
• 40–60% reduction of practical time and lower reagent costs

The result is not only better data, but also improved work flow, which saves time, reduces consumer use and minimizes the risk of unsuccessful libraries.

Enabling new science: from soil to a spaceship

The advantages of iConPCR go far beyond theoretical improvements-they allow breakthrough learning in various applications, from environmental microbiome to the most difficult samples of ultra-niska biomass.

Dr Eric Chow, director of the UCSF Advanced Technology Center, emphasizes the practical transformation for high -pass basic facilities:

For the team of dr. He hides iConPCR has eliminated the need for quantification after PCR and laborious normalization, as well as saving valuable samples that, otherwise, could fail:

Dr. Stefan Green from Rush University crosses the boundaries of what is possible with ultra-nickel samples of the contribution, especially in the NASA spacecraft assembly plants. Working with samples in a clean room, which only contain levels of the picogram or DNA femtogram, its laboratory showed the ability to ICONPCR to effectively strengthen libraries from extremely demanding samples:

In research with the Pacbio Sequel II platform, libraries prepared for IkonpCR from soil microbiome revealed richer, more accurate profiles, detecting key microbiological classes omitted by standard PCR. The same rules enabling these environmental discoveries are currently used by clinical MetagenomicsLarge environmental research, and even the most extreme applications with low biomass, such as monitoring of a clean NASA room, resulting in the versatility of iConPCR in strengthening researchers to a deeper vision, discovering more and accelerate the pace of detection of microorganisms in every area of ​​life.

Industry partnership: Full service 16S SEQCENTER

Iconpcr transformation potential has gained diagnosis in the industry. SEQCENTER, a leading new generation sequencing service provider, recently announced on ASM Microbe 2025, their new full -length RRNA 16S sequencing service, which uses iConPCR technology in combination with a long -term Pacbio sequence platform. This partnership is a significant validation of iConPCR capabilities in ensuring excellent microbial profiling results.

The full length of 16S SEQCENTER provides readings with high accuracy covering the entire 1600 BP 16S (V1-V9) gene, offering a significantly increased taxonomic resolution compared to traditional short reading methods, which focus only on one or two hyperwarible regions. Taking into account the autonorm Iconpcr, the service provides optimal reinforcement for each sample, eliminating excessive amplification artifacts and insufficient strengthening issues, which historically harassed work flows in 16S sequencing.

Strategic partnership: Zymo research cooperation

The impact of iConPCR is additionally approved through the strategic partnership with Zymo Research, a globally recognized leader in the field of molecular tools for natural sciences. This cooperation combines standard flows of Zymobomics Zymo Research with precise PCR N6 technology to solve common pain points in the preparation and amplification of the library to obtain more reliable data sequencing data.

The partnership shows how the combination of specialist knowledge of Zymo Research in the field of DNA extraction and the full length of the RRNA 16S library preparation with autonorm iConPCR technology creates a transformational approach that reduces Chimer’s speed and improves reading normalization compared to PCR with a permanent cycle cycle. This validation from the industry leader with over 30 years of experience further emphasizes the role of iConPCR as a critical factor of new generation microbiome research switch.

For those interested, learn more about this powerful combination, Zymo Research and N6 co -organize the upcoming online seminar entitled on July 24, 2025. This educational session will show the best practices of integration of these proven technologies in order to increase work flow efficiency and repeatable sequencing.

Platform for the future of microbiome research

Because NGS is becoming more and more available, and the number of samples scale in thousands, the need for solid, automated and without a library error is growing. The unique IconpCR-TERE approach approved by the leading genomic cores and recognized as a partner compatible with Pacbio-composition of it as a critical switch in the next era of microbiome and metagenomics research.

The story emerging from the field is clear: transforming PCR from responsibility into a precise tool, ICONPCR authorizes researchers to see deeper, discover more and accelerate the pace of discovery of microorganisms.