icon16: Precise Amplification for All!

I've loved the n6tec icon96 instrument since they first tipped me about it several years back.  The idea of running 96 independent PCRs in parallel was just too attractive; the instrument I'd always dreamed of. I never take payments from companies I write about, but probably could make a reasonable claim on commissions for a few icon96 units - I have a hard time not going into total fanboy mode.  But not everybody works in batches that are multiples of 96 - and now at ABRF n6 has launched an affordable option, the $29.5K icon16, to enable nearly any lab to access this technology.

At Ginkgo we ran a lot of NGS lab customer discovery interviews last Fall and talked to many labs that have a modal batch size around 16 libraries.  That's sometimes a function of just budget, but sometimes those libraries are packed - 16 single cell RNA-Seq libraries or 16 libraries from a protein engineering campaign can pack a lot of data.  And the upfront price of $110K for icon96 can be a roadblock.  But worry no more, as at ABRF this week n6 unveiled the icon16, a smaller but fully capable sibling to the icon96

icon16 enables, as the name suggests, running 16 samples at a time using standard PCR strip tubes.  But the only difference from icon96 is the number of samples and size of the instrument.  Otherwise, they are functionally the same - the same GUI interface for typical users and the same software API for those who want to hack their cycler.  AutoNorm for NGS libraries, where amplification halts when a threshold concentration is reached?  The same on both instruments.  Fully controllable heating and cooling on each sample?  Identical between the siblings.  The icon16 is simply a smaller footprint than icon96, smaller sample number, and in blue - no key functionality stripped away. 

By reducing the price tag to $29.5K, icon16 should be accessible not only to smaller academic cores, but potentially to a wide range of labs that want to perform more precise amplifications for 16S sequencing or barcode sequencing or anything else where overamplification is likely to reduce library diversity and therefore data quality.  Or to put it another way, icon16 is a great option for labs running MiSeq classic, MiSeq iSeq 100, or GridION and feel silly spending more on their thermocycler than their sequencer.

And this isn't just a "coming soon" announcement for "the new standard in amplification" - n6 says they are shipping icon16 now - with the only proviso that there is a danger of demand being ahead of projects and swamping their supply capability.  Which is often a nice problem to have - and I won't be surprised if they flirt with it.