A Two Color HiSeq

In the beginning Illumina sequencers used images in 4 colors, one to detect each DNA nucleotide (A,T,G,C). The Genome Analyzer, MiSeq and all the HiSeq’s used this approach.

2 color sequencing was then introduced (first on the NextSeq 550). This allowed you to sequence four nucleotides with only 2 images.

Illumina never made a two color HiSeq.

In some ways this would have been the next logical step for the HiSeq, which had grown to incorporate, higher density, patterned flowcells.

Instead they introduced the NovaSeq. This can be seen as an evolution of the HiSeq. But was a more ambitious re-engineering of the platform.

But poking through patents I came across what appears to be a two color HiSeq. An evolutionary dead end perhaps, but it does perhaps show us 2 color imaging buys you on the instrument BOM: