seqWell Launches AgriPrep™ Library Prep Kit for Low Coverage Whole Genome Sequencing

BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 6, 2026--

seqWell, a global provider of genomic library and multiplexing workflow solutions, today announced the launch of AgriPrep™ Library Prep Kit, the newest addition to its next-generation TnX™ transposase product portfolio. AgriPrep is designed to facilitate adoption of low-pass whole genome sequencing (LP-WGS) & SKIM-sequencing approaches that provide genome-wide insights at a fraction of the cost of WGS.

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AgriPrep is a tagmentation-based library preparation technology powered by seqWell’s one-step ExpressPlex workflow, a simple 100-minute workflow requiring only 30 minutes of hands-on time. Availability of up to 3072 built-in indexes, protocol simplicity, and the ease of automation enable the ultra-high throughput scalability required for agrigenomic applications such as parentage analysis, genomic selection, trait mapping, and variant discovery.

Joris Parmentier, Associate Portfolio Director NGS at LGC Biosearch Technologies, commented, “We have been trialing the seqWell AgriPrep method in our NGS service lab for low-pass whole genome sequencing and have been impressed by the workflow simplicity and the resulting cost-savings. The method shows promise for high throughput workflows in combination with the appropriate automation, and up- and downstream technology compatibility."

“The rapid adoption of AgriPrep by small and large service providers and Agricultural Biotechnology companies pays tribute to the scope of the previously unmet need for affordable and scalable library prep within agrigenomics,” said Jack Leonard, co-founder and CTO at seqWell. “We believe relieving the NGS library prep bottleneck will have far reaching impacts on the conversion from microarrays to low-pass WGS bringing with it a wealth of actionable insights for more informed breeding and cultivation decision making.”

seqWell will be highlighting AgriPrep at the upcoming Plant and Animal Genome Conference (PAG33), taking place in San Diego from January 9 -14, 2026. seqWell conference activities include:

About seqWell
seqWell creates scalable genomics technologies that simplify library preparation workflows and help scientists to unlock transformative discoveries with sequencing. seqWell technology is focused on a novel, next-generation transposase, TnX™, to drive the scalability and high-performance needs of tagmentation and advance NGS. seqWell offers a range of library prep products and fragmentation workflows that allow customers to quickly and easily scale their short- and long-read sequencing initiatives. Learn more at www.seqwell.com or follow us on Linkedin.

AgriPrep Library Prep Kit is designed to facilitate adoption of low-pass sequencing & SKIM-sequencing of plant and animal genomes at a fraction of the cost of WGS. AgriPrep is a tagmentation-based library preparation technology powered by seqWell’s one-step ExpressPlex workflow, a simple 100-minute workflow requiring only 30 minutes of hands-on time. Availability of up to 3072 built-in indexes, protocol simplicity, and the ease of automation enable the ultra-high throughput scalability required for agrigenomic applications such as parentage analysis, genomic selection, trait mapping, and variant discovery.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that he will allow service members to carry personal weapons onto military installations, citing the Second Amendment and recent shootings at bases across the country.

In a video posted to X, Hegseth said he is signing a memo that will direct base commanders to allow requests for troops to carry privately owned firearms “with the presumption that it is necessary for personal protection.”

He said any denial of a service member's request must be explained in detail and in writing.

“Effectively, our bases across the country were gun-free zones,” Hegseth said. “Unless you're training or unless you are a military policeman, you couldn't carry, you couldn't bring your own firearm for your own personal protection onto post.”

Questions about why service members lacked access to weapons have often emerged following shootings on the nation's military bases. Such shootings have ranged from isolated events between service members to mass casualty events, such as the shootings by an Army psychiatrist at Texas’ Ford Hood in 2009 that left 13 people dead.

Hegseth cited some of the events in his video, including a shooting that injured five soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia last year. Officials said the shooter, an Army sergeant who worked at the base, used his personal handgun before he was tackled by fellow soldiers and arrested.

“In these instances, minutes are a lifetime,” Hegseth said. “And our service members have the courage and training to make those precious, short minutes count.”

Defense Department policy has prohibited military personnel from carrying personal weapons on base without permission from a senior commander, with strict protocol for how the firearms must be stored.

Typically, military personnel must officially check their guns out of secure storage to go to on-base hunting areas or shooting ranges, then check all firearms back in promptly after their sanctioned use. Military police are often the only armed personnel on base, outside of shooting ranges, hunting areas or in training, where soldiers can wield their service weapons without ammunition.

Tanya Schardt, senior counsel at the Brady gun violence prevention organization, said in a statement that Defense Department leaders and the military’s top brass have opposed relaxing the current policy, which was originally enacted under President George H.W. Bush.

Schardt noted that most active duty service members who die by suicide do so with a weapon they own personally, not one military-issued, and argued that there will “undoubtedly be an increase in gun suicide and other gun violence.”

While fewer American service members died by suicide in 2024, the suicide rates among active duty troops overall still have gradually increased between 2011 and 2024, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.

“Our military installations are among the most guarded, protected properties in the world, and they’ve never been ‘gun-free zones,’” Schardt said. “If there is a problem with violent crime on these installations, then the Secretary of Defense has an obligation to alert the American people and describe how he’s working to prevent that crime.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)