Glossary
Glossary is part of the Nanopore Wiki learning path. This glossary defines common terms used in nanopore technology, sequencing, signal analysis, and experimental workflows.
Core concepts
- Open-pore current: baseline current through an unoccupied pore.
- Blockade depth: the magnitude of current reduction or signal shift during an event.
- Dwell time: the duration for which a molecule produces a detectable event.
- Basecalling: conversion of nanopore raw signal into nucleotide sequence and quality values.
- POD5, FAST5, FASTQ, and BAM: common file formats in Oxford Nanopore workflows.
Scientific basis
- Open-pore current: baseline current through an unoccupied pore.
- Blockade depth: the magnitude of current reduction or signal shift during an event.
- Interpretations should be tied to measurable quantities, experimental controls, and documented analysis settings.
- Claims should distinguish direct observations from downstream inference.
How to use this page
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Use definitions to keep wording consistent across pages. |
| 2 | Prefer exact terms such as open-pore current, blockade event, and Q score. |
| 3 | When a term has platform-specific meaning, state the platform explicitly. |
Typical applications
- Quick reference for new readers.
- Editorial consistency across translated pages.
- Support for classroom and laboratory onboarding.
Quality checks
- Record platform, pore or flow-cell type, chemistry, voltage or acquisition settings, and software versions.
- Use negative controls, positive controls, and replicate measurements where the claim depends on specificity.
- Report limitations such as noise, bias, sample degradation, pore instability, or model-dependent analysis.
- Use the related pages to move from introductory terms to experimental or computational detail.
Interpretation limits
- Using sequencing terms for non-sequencing nanopore experiments without qualification.
- Translating file formats or instrument names that should remain unchanged.
- A single result should not be generalized beyond the sample, protocol, instrument state, and analysis pipeline used.
- Medical, legal, regulatory, or commercial decisions require domain-specific validation beyond this educational summary.