Nucleic acid sequencing system and method using a subset of sites of a substrate

A method for operating a system for sequencing a nucleic acid, the method comprising:

• sequencing a plurality of different nucleic acids of different sequences in parallel using a substrate having biological polymers located at multiple different locations of the substrate;
• receiving first data indicative of an ability to obtain usable second data indicative of a sequence of a nucleic acid at the locations of the substrate;
• selecting a subset of the multiple locations for obtaining the second data indicative of a sequence of a nucleic acid based on the first data;
• and
• selecting not to obtain second data at a subset of the multiple locations based on the first data.

A method for operating a system for sequencing a nucleic acid, the method comprising:

• sequencing a plurality of different nucleic acids of different sequences in parallel using a substrate having biological polymers located at multiple different locations of the substrate;
• obtaining first data using a detection circuit, the first data comprising data indicative of a density of biopolymers in a location of the multiple locations, the detection circuit being in a fixed physical position relative to the multiple locations and being configured to detect an electrical characteristic associated with locations of the multiple locations;
• selecting a first subset of the multiple locations at a processing circuit based on the first data;
• selecting a second subset of the multiple locations at a processing circuit based on the first data;
• obtaining second data indicative of a sequence of a nucleic acid at the first subset of locations while not obtaining data at the second subset of locations.