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Sequencing technology

Max sequencing output per run

SeqDesk — compiled from vendor spec sheets

16 Tb
per run · NovaSeq X (2023)
12563516K200720102013201620192022234
Timeline — what shaped the curve
  • 12005-01First NGS instrument — 454 GS20 (2005), the first commercial next-generation sequencer, produced ~25 Mb per run — already well beyond per-run Sanger output.
  • 22007-011 Gb/run — Illumina/Solexa Genome Analyzer headlined ~1 gigabase per run, the sequencing-by-synthesis breakthrough.
  • 32014-01-14HiSeq X · $1,000 genome — HiSeq X Ten (announced 14 Jan 2014) delivered ~1.8 Tb per run and the first population-scale $1,000 genome.
  • 42023-01NovaSeq X · 16 Tb — NovaSeq X Plus (shipping from early 2023) reaches ~16 Tb per dual-flow-cell run, the current Illumina output ceiling.

Maximum data output of the highest-throughput instrument available each year, in gigabases per run (log scale). Illumina Genome Analyzer (2007) headlined ~1 Gb/run; HiSeq 2000 reached ~600 Gb with upgraded flow cells (2010); HiSeq X ~1.8 Tb (2014, the '$1,000 genome' machine); NovaSeq 6000 ~6 Tb (2017); NovaSeq X Plus ~16 Tb (2023) — a ~16,000-fold rise in 16 years. For scale, a capillary Sanger run produced ~0.0001 Gb, so the 2007 Genome Analyzer was already ~10,000x more than Sanger. Best-available headline maxima from vendor spec sheets (upgraded-config rather than launch values in places); not forecast, since output jumps at chemistry/flow-cell launches rather than smoothly.

How this is tracked
SourceSeqDesk — compiled from vendor spec sheets
Update cadencecurated · manual
Live endpoint—
Parsemanual
Historical sources
All data points (5)
DateGb/run
2023-01-0116,000
2017-01-016,000
2014-01-011,800
2010-01-01600
2007-01-011

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