My lab has been building custom high content microscopes using parts that turned out to come from Illumina GAIIx sequencers. In this blog I’ll be tearing down a GAIIx bought on ebay for a fraction of it’s original price ($350 to $500k, these kinds of instruments don’t come with a list price) to show you how to take it apart and how to repurpose the high quality parts it contains. The Greenleaf lab at Stanford (and possibly other labs) are also taking advantage of the cheap availability of retired GAIIx sequencers to enable innovative new experimental approaches. A teardown (but no repurposing) of an earlier version of the sequencer can be found here and here.
The GAIIx just arrived today. I’ll tear it down over the next couple of weeks and document what’s inside.
Hello, in the scope of my research, I’ve also been taking the GAIIx apart. Thanks for your posts, it has been very useful. But, I wonder, do you have any idea of how to control the fluidics system, any 3rd party software or something like that?
Thanks
The only lab I know who has done this is William Greenleaf’s lab at Stanford (see the link above). The fluidics are controlled by a VICI Valco Multiposition Selector Actuator and Controller and a Kloehn multi-channel syringe pump, both of which are controlled using serial commands. I’ll try to post pictures and links to the command sets for these in the near future.