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I did a HMW extraction kit on the DNA and used a gel to estimate the volume of HMW DNA. Yes, you need to be able to run a gel, but I'm not sure what the expectation is from folks; that you just place a random piece of non-sterile tissue on a chip and have it do the extraction, sequencing and assembly? That seems like an unrealistic expectation.

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It is unrealistic but for laymen like me, that's the impression I got from the title.

They do work on an extraction flowcell that can be added on top. I’m hoping they can make it as easy as adding sample to a well, at least for blood or saliva.

If you're talking about the voltrax, you still need to pipette reagents in at the right times. They don't really talk about it in their advertising, but it's basically just to make mixing consistent when you have under-trained techs. Definitely will get there eventually, but I don't know if they are working on that right now.

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