iconPCR™: Powering the Next Wave of Metagenomics and Microbiome Discovery

How a New Approach to PCR is Transforming Microbial Research

PLEASANTON, Calif., July 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The landscape of metagenomics and microbiome research is evolving at breakneck speed. As sequencing technologies improve and the demand for high-resolution, bias-free microbial data grows, the bottleneck is shifting from sequencing itself to the quality of upstream sample preparation. At the heart of this transformation is iconPCR—a novel thermocycler platform that is rapidly becoming indispensable for researchers seeking to push the boundaries of what's possible in microbial profiling.

The Challenge: PCR as a Limiting Factor
For years, conventional PCR has been both a workhorse and a weak link in microbiome workflows. Fixed-cycle PCR methods often force scientists into a guessing game: too few cycles and you risk dropout samples; too many and you introduce chimeras, amplification bias, and wasted sequencing capacity. The result? Compromised data quality, lost diversity, and labor-intensive normalization steps that slow down discovery.
As Dr. Stefan Green, Director of the Genomics Core at Rush University, puts it:

"PCR, in a way, is your enemy. The more cycles that you do, everything gets worse. The iconPCR for us is really a mechanism to limit the number of PCR cycles and limit the damage you do through amplification of your template molecules."

The Solution: iconPCR's AutoNorm™ Technology
iconPCR, developed by n6, introduces a fundamentally new approach: per-well, real-time monitoring and adaptive cycling. Its AutoNorm technology tracks amplification in each well and automatically terminates PCR at the optimal point, eliminating the guesswork and batch effects of traditional workflows.

In a recent application note co-marketed with PacBio, the integration of iconPCR with PacBio's long-read sequencing unlocked a new standard in microbial profiling. Compared to conventional PCR, iconPCR delivered:

• Zero chimeras in all samples
• Up to 10x more unique amplicon sequence variants (ASVs)
• Significantly higher alpha diversity (Chao1, Shannon, Simpson indices)
• Enhanced detection of rare and previously undetectable taxa
• 40–60% reduction in hands-on time and lower reagent costs

The result is not just better data, but also a streamlined workflow that saves time, reduces consumable use, and minimizes the risk of failed libraries.

Enabling New Science: From Soil to Spacecraft
The advantages of iconPCR extend far beyond theoretical improvements—they're already enabling breakthrough science across diverse applications, from environmental microbiomes to the most challenging ultra-low biomass samples imaginable.
Dr. Eric Chow, Director of UCSF's Center for Advanced Technology, highlights the practical transformation for high-throughput core facilities:

"With iconPCR, every sample's within one PCR cycle. We can just use one pipette… or, if you're okay with samples being within twofold of each other, you can just pull an equal volume with a multichannel going across a 96-well plate and that's just super fast and easy."

For Dr. Chow's team, iconPCR has eliminated the need for post-PCR quantification and laborious normalization, while also rescuing precious samples that might otherwise fail:

"Redoing samples that drop out is costly… With iconPCR, you kind of avoid that issue of a sample dropout. If you're working with precious samples, knowing that you'll get enough library each time is also reassuring and a big benefit."

Dr. Stefan Green from Rush University has been pushing the boundaries of what's possible with ultra-low input samples, particularly in NASA's spacecraft assembly facilities. Working with cleanroom samples that contain only picogram or femtogram levels of DNA, his laboratory has demonstrated iconPCR's ability to successfully amplify libraries from incredibly challenging samples:

"We've been able to use a mock community down to 500 femtogram input DNA, amped with the iconPCR, and still able to recover all 10 organisms in the mock community. That's actually quite exciting."

In studies with PacBio's Sequel II platform, iconPCR-prepared libraries from soil microbiomes revealed richer, more accurate profiles, detecting key microbial classes missed by standard PCR. The same principles enabling these environmental discoveries are now being applied across clinical metagenomics, large-scale environmental surveys, and even the most extreme low-biomass applications like NASA's cleanroom monitoring—demonstrating iconPCR's versatility in empowering researchers to see deeper, discover more, and accelerate the pace of microbial discovery across every domain of life.

Industry Partnership: SeqCenter's Full-Length 16S Service
The transformative potential of iconPCR has gained recognition across the industry. SeqCenter, a leading provider of next-generation sequencing services, recently announced at ASM Microbe 2025 their new full-length 16S rRNA sequencing service that leverages iconPCR technology combined with PacBio's long-read sequencing platform. This partnership represents a significant validation of iconPCR's capabilities in delivering superior microbial profiling results.

SeqCenter's full-length 16S service provides high-accuracy reads spanning the entire 1,500bp 16S gene (V1-V9 regions), offering significantly enhanced taxonomic resolution compared to traditional short-read methods that focus on only one or two hypervariable regions. By incorporating iconPCR's AutoNorm technology, the service ensures optimal amplification for each sample, eliminating the over-amplification artifacts and under-amplification issues that have historically plagued 16S sequencing workflows.

Strategic Partnership: Zymo Research Collaboration
iconPCR's impact is further validated through a strategic partnership with Zymo Research, a globally recognized leader in molecular tools for life sciences. This collaboration combines Zymo Research's standardized ZymoBIOMICS workflows with n6's precision PCR technology to address common pain points in library preparation and amplification for more reliable microbiome sequencing data.

The partnership demonstrates how combining Zymo Research's expertise in DNA extraction and full-length 16S rRNA library preparation with iconPCR's AutoNorm technology creates a transformative approach that reduces chimera rates and improves read normalization compared to fixed-cycle PCR. This validation from an industry leader with over 30 years of experience further underscores iconPCR's role as a critical enabler for next-generation microbiome research.

For researchers interested in learning more about this powerful combination, Zymo Research and n6 are co-hosting an upcoming webinar titled "Advancing Long-Read 16S rRNA Metagenomics: Workflow Innovations for Robust Results" on July 24, 2025. This educational session will demonstrate best practices for integrating these proven technologies to enhance workflow efficiency and sequencing reproducibility.

A Platform for the Future of Microbiome Research
As NGS becomes ever more accessible and sample numbers scale into the thousands, the need for robust, automated, and bias-free library prep is only growing. iconPCR's unique approach—now validated by leading genomics cores and recognized as a PacBio-compatible partner—positions it as a critical enabler for the next era of microbiome and metagenomics research.

The story emerging from the field is clear: by turning PCR from a liability into a precision tool, iconPCR is empowering researchers to see deeper, discover more, and accelerate the pace of microbial discovery.

About n6: n6 is committed to delivering next-generation tools that empower scientists to achieve more with every sample. For more information, visit our website or contact us directly.

"iconPCR does what it says it does. We really do think this is an instrument that every genomics core should want to have."
—Dr. Stefan Green, Rush University

SOURCE n6