Sequencing outfits sign up for $60M genome project

John Carroll — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:28:27 -0400

Three top DNA sequencing companies--454 Life Sciences, Illumina and Applied Biosystems--have joined forces with the 1000 Genomes project, putting their technology to work mapping the human genome with far greater precision and speed than ever witnessed before. By mapping at least 1,000 different genomes, researchers with the $60 million effort say they'll gain a much more precise view of the genetic variations that exist between people--which will highlight important variations for medical research work.

"The additional sequencing capacity and expertise provided by the three companies in the pilot phase will enable us to explore the human genome with even greater depth and speed than we had originally envisioned, and will help us to optimize the design of the full study to follow," said Richard Durbin, Ph.D., of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who is co-chair of the consortium. "It is a win-win arrangement for all involved. The companies will gain an exciting opportunity to test their technologies on hundreds of samples of human DNA, and the project will obtain data and insight to achieve its goals in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than we could without their help."

- read the release

Illumina offers understanding of molecular mechanisms

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:59:59 -0400

San Diego-based Illumina is commercializing three new products aimed at a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that give rise to cancer. Illumina's DASL Assay is designed to profile expression in degraded RNA, such as that found in formalin-fixed paraffin embedded samples. At the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers are using whole-genome DASL profiling to identify molecular profiles associated with chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer.

"We have a significant number of archived ovarian cancer samples, and this new approach has provided me with a way to finally access the information in these invaluable samples," said Harvard's Dr. John Quackenbush. "The DASL assay gives us the ability to obtain consistent, high-quality data from FFPE samples and has opened-up new avenues of investigation that were not previously available to us."

- check out the press release
- read the story in Forbes

Related Articles:
Illumina focuses on molecular diagnostics. Illumina report
Four companies lead genome sequencing race. Illumina report
Illumina to buy Solexa for $600M. Illumina report