Illumina’s Cheap New Gene Machine



A new DNA reader could turbocharge research into cancer and autism. The biotech company Illumina is introducing a new machine that it says will decode a person’s DNA in one week using $10,000 worth of materials–five times cheaper than any other competing gadget on the market.

…”Other companies are talking about future products, but we’re talking about a product that is going to ship next month,” says Jay Flatley, Illumina’s chief executive. “It maintains our position of leadership and hopefully will grow it.” Illumina has annual revenue of about $650 million. It doesn’t break out sales of sequencing machines, but was expected to sell 490 sequencers this year, according to Leerink Swann.There is no shortage of potential competitors. Complete Genomics, one of the new companies, has taken a factory approach. Customers send in their DNA samples, and Complete sends back sequences. Pfizer
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) is among its clients. Complete has said customers who want a lot of DNA sequenced might pay less than $10,000 per human genome.One of the most intriguing entrants is the privately held Pacific BioSciences, which has over $260 million in venture funding and is working on a system that would run in hours, not days, by reading DNA molecules in real time as they…

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Illumina’s Cheap New Gene Machine

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