Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026
Whole Genome Sequencing for Rapid Characterization of Rabies Virus Using Nanopore Technology
Published on: August 18, 2023
microbiONT: an AI-assisted, privacy-focused platform for local Nanopore 16S and 18S amplicon analysis
Che-Chun Chen1,2,3, Hsin-Yun Lu1, Ying-Ning Ho1,3,4
1Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan.
Motivation:
The affordability and high-throughput capabilities of Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) have democratized genomic sequencing, yet the complexity of bioinformatics environment setup and analysis remains a barrier for many biologists.
Results:
microbiONT addresses this gap by providing a user-friendly, privacy-focused platform that features a streamlined, one-command installation process. Integrating a local Large Language Model (Llama 3.1) with an intuitive graphical interface, microbiONT serves not only as an analysis tool but also as an AI copilot to assist users in learning bioinformatics concepts. By translating natural language requests into executable commands and simplifying deployment, microbiONT empowers non-experts to perform rigorous or custom 16S/18S amplicon analysis locally. This ensures rapid data insights without the need for command line use. Beyond its AI-integrated GUI, the novelty of microbiONT lies in its fully localized, highly accurate, and privacy-preserving architecture for flexible data analysis.
Availability And Implementation:
Source code and portable binaries are freely available at https://github.com/MBEBlab/microbiONT under the MIT license.
