- Consumables
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- Flongle device - flow cell and adapter
- Equipment
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- MinION or GridION device
- Host computer connected to the Internet with MinKNOW and the Desktop Agent installed
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How it works
Flow cells are shipped with a QC DNA molecule present in the buffer. This molecule produces a distinctive nanopore signal. The MinKNOWâ„¢ software uses this signal to validate the integrity of the nanopore array before use and provides the user with an estimate of the number of simultaneously available channels for the experiment.
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Place the Flongle adapter into the MinION or one of the five GridION positions.
The adapter should sit evenly and flat on the MinION Mk1B or GridION platform. This ensures the flow cell assembly is flat during the next stage.
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Place the flow cell into the Flongle adapter, and press the flow cell down until you hear a click.
The flow cell should sit evenly and flat inside the adapter, to avoid any bubbles forming inside the fluidic compartments.
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Double-click the MinKNOW icon located on the desktop to open the MinKNOW UI.
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We recommend users to log into the MinKNOW software using their Community credentials.
To log in, you must be connected to the internet.
From here, you can also change the language in the user interface in the bottom right corner.
You will be prompted to enter your email address and Nanopore password:
If you experience login issues, please visit the Community Support channel (https://community.nanoporetech.com/support) and use Continue as guest for temporary use.
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Click the sequencing device connected to the computer.
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The Sequencing Overview should show the flow cell has not had any checks carried out.
Below is an example of a GridION device with a Flongle inserted into position X1 and MinION Flow Cells in positions X2 - X5.
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Select 'Start' to begin the flow cell check.
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The flow cell check should take a few minutes.
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Flow cell health indicators
The quality of the flow cell will be shown as one of the three outcomes:
Yellow exclamation mark (Flongle flow cell) The number of sequencing pores is below warranty.
Green tick (MinION flow cell) The number of sequencing pores is above warranty.
Question mark (PromethION flow cell) A Flow Cell Check has not been run on the flow cell during this MinKNOW session.
Note: The indicator of quality (question mark, exclamation mark or tick) will only remain visible during a MinKNOW session. Once the MinKNOW service has ended, the status of the flow cell will be erased.