Our goal is to enable the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere.
Welcome to Oxford Nanopore Technologies
You’ll soon be joining a determined and innovation led company. By enabling biological insights, we strive to improve life on earth and beyond. With your help we aim to grow and evolve as a company and realise our ambitions. In turn, your work with us should help you grow too — both professionally and personally. We can’t wait to start working with you and find out more about you.
Oxford Nanopore has developed a new generation of DNA/RNA sequencing technology. It is the only sequencing technology that offers real-time analysis (for rapid insights), in fully scalable formats from pocket to population scale, that can analyse native DNA or RNA and sequence any length of fragment to achieve short to ultra-long read lengths.
Dr Gordon Sanghera has led our company since it was founded in 2005. Under his leadership, over the years we’ve outgrown the research labs of the University of Oxford to become a global team of over 1,500 colleagues. We have customers in more than 120 countries, and in September 2021, Oxford Nanopore Technologies proudly listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Listen to Gordon Sanghera explain why he hires people with a diverse skillset
What is nanopore technology?
In the natural world, protein nanopores are tiny holes that act as gateways across membranes. All Oxford Nanopore sequencing devices work by passing an electric current through engineered nanopores which have been embedded in synthetic electro-resistant membranes. As molecules such as DNA or RNA move through the nanopore, the electric current is disrupted, producing a characteristic ‘squiggle’. Our devices monitor this squiggle, which is then decoded, revealing the DNA or RNA sequence in real time.
Our inspiration
As you enter our home and head office in Oxford, UK, you'll notice an array of famous faces on the walls. These eclectic figures inspired our founders, embodying innovation, creativity, and determination to turn their visions and ideas into reality. Each was an industry disruptor in their own right, just like us.
Among the faces you'll spot is Nikola Tesla, a pioneer of modern electrical systems. His impact spans from hydro-electric power to X-rays, and he even predicted the Internet of Things a century earlier. Blondie, one of several punk icons on display, symbolises a rebellious music scene that quickly grew into a community. We think science and music are not so different. JFK and his moon-shot mission inspired our groundbreaking work with NASA, where Oxford Nanopore’s MinION device was used on the International Space Station. David Bowie, the ‘Starman’ who said "tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming," has provided the soundtrack to our evolution, from ground control to our world-changing discoveries and applications.
Nikola Tesla
Blondie
The moonshot mission
David Bowie
Our products
Our products are fully scalable, from pocket to population scale, enabling scientific researchers to answer questions about the biology of people, plants, animals, pathogens and environments. It is also increasingly being used in ‘applied’ settings such as clinical diagnostics, epidemiology and food safety. It is our goal to enable users to answer a wide range of important biological questions that solve real-world challenges, whether in healthcare, epidemiology, environmental science, food and agriculture or education.
MinION Mk1B
Flongle
GridION
PromethION
MinION Mk1D
ElysION
PromethION 2 Solo
PromethION 2
Nanopore devices in action
The first complete sequence of a human genome
Nanopore sequencing was instrumental, along with other sequencing technologies, in completing the remaining 8% of the human genome which had been inaccessible for decades. These regions are highly-repetitive and would have been impossible to resolve without Oxford Nanopore Technologies' ultra-long sequencing reads. Resolving these large and complex regions has enabled the Telomere-to-Telomere consortium to uncover new information about the genetics of human health and disease. In addition to spanning these complex regions, nanopore sequencing also provided new insights into methylation in these regions.
The future potential of real-time, intraoperative CNS tumour classification
Luna Djirackor (Oslo University Hospital, Norway) has shown how nanopore methylation analysis shows the future potential to classify brain tumours in as little as 91 minutes – quick enough for results to be returned to the operating table during brain surgery. Strikingly, in 60% of the samples sequenced in the study, the information obtained would have altered the pre-planned surgical strategy, demonstrating how this approach has the potential to significantly improve surgical outcomes in future.
COVID-19 and the Nanopore Community
Nanopore Community members have been on the frontline across the world during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have used our sequencing devices to track the virus and identify mutations in over 80 countries, providing critical analyses on the transmission and biology of SARS-CoV-2 to inform public health measures. The Community has a long history with supporting outbreak surveillance. They were on the ground during the Ebola (2014) and Zika (2016) outbreaks and continue to track the genomic epidemiology of pathogens such as TB, yellow fever and influenza globally.
Hear from the talent behind the technology
Our team is expanding, now proudly representing over 60 nationalities across our company. To help you get to know the people who work here and their roles, we asked a few team members to introduce themselves and share their thoughts on working at Oxford Nanopore.
Rewards and benefits
Oxford Nanopore offers an appealing Total Reward Package comprising a market-competitive base salary, an attractive bonus and share plans.
We support employee health and wellbeing ensuring our employees are covered in times of need. These include maternity/paternity benefits, sickness and life insurances, market aligned retirement provisions and services to help with mental, physical and financial wellbeing.
Having fun with our colleagues is important at Oxford Nanopore and we run various social events throughout the year to champion this.
We strive to create a results-driven and diverse culture in which employees are encouraged and supported to manage their work/life balance through flexible and smart working practices.
What to expect on day one
We’ll be in touch with you with the arrangements for your first day, whether you’re joining us in person or remotely. Unsure about to wear? If you’re joining our manufacturing or R&D teams, your PPE (personal protective equipment) will be ready for you. Everywhere else it’s smart casual unless you're meeting customers.
Your manager will meet you either on-site or online on your first day and will help you get oriented and settled in. IT will have already set up your email, and you'll have an IT induction to introduce you to your equipment and our various systems and platforms. Additionally, you'll join an HR-led induction session to provide you with essential information to get started.
The first few days and weeks of any new job is all about settling in and becoming productive as quickly as possible. To help you, your manager will discuss a full 30-day, 60-day and 90-day plan designed to help you learn your way around the business. Above all, ask lots of questions. You’ll soon realise that everyone is friendly and genuinely wants to help you.
Discover more
Applications
DNA sequencing, RNA and gene expression analysis, and in the future, analysis of proteins.
