Pacific Biosciences unveiled a program to allow select customers to wash and reuse SMRT cell consumables and launched a new Sprq‑Nx chemistry that increases output and adds 5‑hydroxymethylcytosine detection — moves that lower cost per genome toward sub‑$300 for high‑volume projects. PacBio said beta customers could reach costs under $300 per 20X human genome for large batches. Ultima Genomics rolled out its UG100 Solaris platform, touting extremely high throughput and an $80 human genome economics with over 10 billion reads per run. Service providers adopting Solaris and other high‑output platforms emphasized the ability to change how sequencing is purchased and used, enabling whole‑genome projects at scale. Both announcements intensify competition on cost and throughput in long‑read and high‑throughput sequencing, with potential implications for population genomics, biobank projects and clinical adoption. Buyers will weigh read quality, methylation detection, and total cost of ownership when choosing platforms.