PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsIllumina claims the $1,000 genome crown

BioNews

Illumina claims the $1,000 genome crown

Published 17 January 2014 posted in News and appears in BioNews 738

Author

Dr Rachael Panizzo

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.

The $1,000 genome may have arrived, an achievement which would mark a significant milestone in the application of genetic science...

The $1,000 genome may
have arrived, an achievement which would mark a significant milestone in the
application of genetic science. The US $1,000 price tag for sequencing
a human genome has long been seen as the threshold at which large-scale human
genomics research and personalised medicine would become affordable, but has
proved hard to attain.

The
biotechnology company Illumina announced that its new high-speed sequencing
supercomputer — named HiSeq X — will be able to sequence 20,000 human genomes
per year, at a cost of $1,000 each. The new sequencer will launch 'the
supersonic age of genomics', according to Jay Flatley, the company's chief
executive officer, speaking at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
in San Francisco.

Several commentators
anticipate considerable impact in cancer research. 'Over the next few years, we
have an opportunity to learn as much about the genetics of human disease as we
have learned in the history of medicine', said Professor Eric Lander, founding
director of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and Harvard University
, and one
of the first customers for the HiSeq X.

Faster and
cheaper technology would allow researchers to sequence the genomes of hundreds
of thousands of people, gaining a better understanding of the complex genetic
variation that can lead to cancer and many other diseases. Population-level
genomics research — such as the UK's 100K
Genomes project
that aims to sequence 100,000
NHS patient genomes over the next five years — should become more cost
effective.

Personalised
medicine may also benefit as patients can have their genomes sequenced or
tumour genetics analysed more affordably, with the information used to guide
treatment. However, even if Illumina has produced the first $1,000-a-genome sequencer, it will still be a while before personal genome sequencing will be
available to the public at that price.

It took 13
years and $3 billion to sequence the first human genome more than a decade ago.
According to Bloomberg, the current cost runs at around $10,000. Illumina
attributes the further drop in cost mainly to improvements in the chemical
reagents involved in sequencing - more efficient enzymes and brighter
fluorescent dyes needed to identify the units of DNA.

Talking to Nature, Dr Michael Schatz from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the USA said Illumina
had made 'a major human accomplishment on par with the development of the
telescope or the microprocessor'.

'If there was any doubt to if genomics would ever be able to reach the
everyday man, at this price point and efficiencies it is absolute certainty',
he said.

The $1,000
price tag includes the cost of reagents ($797 per genome), the cost of
purchasing the machine ($137 per genome) and the labour costs involved in
preparing samples and running the machine ($55 to 65 per genome). It does not,
however, include the costs of analysing the data, or overhead
costs such as electricity.

The HiSeq X
sequencer is the size of a large photocopier, costs $1 million and is only sold
in units of ten or more. There are already a number of high-profile customers,
including the Broad Institute, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney,
Australia
, and the
biotechnology company Macrogen in Seoul, South Korea.

Other
companies - Ion Torrent, owned by Life Technologies (see BioNews 640), and the UK-based Oxford
Nanopore - have previously promised products capable of sequencing a human
genome for $1,000, but these have yet to materialise. The HiSeq X is expected
to be delivered to its first clients by March 2014.

Related Articles

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
15 May 2017 • 2 minutes read

'Big data on steroids': IBM's Watson supercomputer to work on brain cancer genetics

by Chris Baldacci

IBM and the New York Genome Centre have teamed up to announce the latest weapon in the fight against cancer - Watson the supercomputer....

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
23 January 2017 • 2 minutes read

Smartphone DNA sequencer developed

by Kulraj Singh Bhangra

Scientists have created a smartphone microscope attachment that can image and analyse DNA sequences...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
30 March 2016 • 3 minutes read

Illumina sues UK startup over genome-sequencing patents

by Ryan Ross

The California-based genome-sequencing company Illumina has accused UK rival Oxford Nanopore Technologies of violating its intellectual property rights...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
17 October 2014 • 1 minute read

Three genomics start-ups get Illumina funding boost

by Seán Byrne

Illumina has announced the first three companies in its Accelerator Programme, designed to help genomics start-ups as other sources of funding grow scarce...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
17 January 2014 • 2 minutes read

Human genome sequenced for $50,000 with third generation technology

by Dr Will Fletcher

Third-generation 'single-molecule' technology has been used for the first time to read a human genome sequence. Professor Stephen Quake, from Stanford University, California, US, is only the eighth person whose genome has been published since the first breakthroughs were made in 2000. When this latest generation of technology is perfected the hope is that it will bring us one step closer to ‘the $1,000 genome' that will open the door to personalised medical treatme...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
25 October 2013 • 1 minute read

Rare Disease Genomes Project to sequence 10,000 whole genomes

by Dr Lucy Freem

A three-year joint project to sequence the genomes of 10,000 rare disease patients has been announced by the University of Cambridge, Genomics England and Illumina...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
24 January 2013 • 2 minutes read

Desktop machine can sequence a genome in one day for £650

by Zara Mahmoud

A US biotechnology firm has unveiled an automated desktop DNA sequencer that can decode the sequence of the human genome in one day for as little as $1,000 (£650). Given its first public viewing at a consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, Life Technologies Corporation's Ion Proton sequencer uses microchips similar to those found in digital cameras...

PET BioNews
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

$10m dollar race to sequence 100 genomes in 10 days

by Dr Antony Starza-Allen

The X Prize Foundation is offering $10m to the first private team that is able to sequence 100 human genomes in just ten days. It would currently take months, at the cost of millions of dollars, to sequence an individual human genome. Francis Collins, director of the...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« Womb transplants successful for nine women

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.

Find out how you can advertise here
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Placenta and organ formation observed in mouse embryo models

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Lower hormone doses may improve IVF egg quality

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Boosting muscle cell production of gene therapy proteins

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

First UK medical guidelines issued for trans fertility preservation

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Male age has more impact on IVF birth rate than previously thought

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Placenta and organ formation observed in mouse embryo models

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Complex structures of the human heart bioengineered

8 August 2022 • 1 minute read

Brain tumour gene also linked to childhood cancers

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Lower hormone doses may improve IVF egg quality

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Boosting muscle cell production of gene therapy proteins

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856