Nanopore Analysis

The Nanopore Analysis gateway aims to be a resource for rapid publication of nanopore data, analysis and benchmarking results, in order to help drive forward the analysis of nanopore sequencing data.

Nanopores - tiny hollow proteins embedded in membranes - are a new approach for detection of biomolecules. An immediate application of this approach is for DNA sequencing. When a DNA strand blocks a nanopore, the characteristic, tiny changes in electrical current can be used to determine its underlying sequence. One notable difference between nanopore sequencing and other technologies is that it is sensing natural molecules directly, rather than incorporation of nucleotides by a polymerase or the presence of ligated nucleotide probes. The possibility, therefore, of detecting base modifications such as methylation or damage exists. It has also been proposed that nanopores could be used to detect and characterise single stranded RNA and even proteins. As such, this technology opens up new possibilities for using genetic sequencing to answer new biological questions. One implementation of nanopore sequencing is the Oxford Nanopore MinION, which has been available to testers since May 2014. Since then, the platform has been explored by hundreds of groups worldwide. However, there remains a gap in our understanding of the best analytical approaches to nanopore data. Additionally, nanopore sequencing is undergoing rapid development, driven by changes to chemistry and data analysis. In order to attempt to keep up with this pace of change we have developed this innovative gateway in collaboration with the F1000Research publication platform. Authors may post their new data and results nearly immediately, with discussion and peer review happening afterwards.