Your tweet about the acquisition of the device met with an enormous response on Twitter, even among many scientists outside the IPK, and triggered a lot of euphoria. What does the acquisition mean for you as a scientist and research group leader?

According to the manufacturer, this is the first device that has been delivered to a research institution in Germany - i.e. the IPK is able to use this new platform for genome research on cultivated plants and their wild forms at a very early stage. This opens up new possibilities for us in the context of existing projects, but also in the acquisition of third-party funding for future research projects.

What is the difference between the device and the previous models? Can you explain this in concrete terms?

With the acquisition, we have access to the latest platform of so-called single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing, i.e. the method that has once again revolutionised genome research in the past three years and which has made the complete sequencing and assembly of large, complex genomes - especially plant genomes - a routine application. The method itself has not changed significantly, but the technique has been improved. This allows more data to be generated in much shorter periods of time - and all at considerably lower cost.

Can you describe the improvements compared to the previous model with some numbers?

You can now sequence four samples in one day on one device - previously it took five days. This allows us to theoretically sequence and completely assemble about 1,500 barley genomes per year instead of 60. You also get more data for the same money, i.e. overall sequencing becomes cheaper again.

And for what purpose will it be used for the first time?

We will use the device specifically in the SHAPE-P3 project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), in which we are working on the analysis of the so-called barley pangenome, ultimately the (almost) complete recording of the genome diversity of this important crop species and making it available for research and breeding. But also in the development of the Federal Ex situ Gene Bank into a bio digital Resource Centre, the new device will allow us to decode the genomes of a large number of cultivated plants and their wild forms.

What did the new device cost? And how was the purchase financed?

The instrument amounted just under one million euros and was financed by a BMBF grant, including the IPK's own contribution.

Does the new instrument mean that the devices previously established at the IPK Genome Centre are now obsolete? What will happen to the existing equipment?

For us, the different sequencing devices that we operate due to their different specifications and data formats clearly represent complementary technologies that enable us to address a broad spectrum of research questions. In addition to the device we have now procured, we will continue to operate the predecessor model, which was procured in 2013 with ERDF funding, for the foreseeable future. This is simply because not all applications for which we use single-molecule sequencing are yet established on the new device. However, this has been promised by the manufacturer for the end of 2023, so that the previous device will then actually be decommissioned. However, this is not a completely unusual process for a ten-year period of operation in research.