Applied Biosystems' new platform enables human genome sequencing for
$10,000
16 February 2009
Applied Biosystems, a division of Life Technologies Corporation
(NASDAQ:LIFE), has begun shipment of a new, genomic analysis platform,
the SOLiD 3 System. The company says the new system delivers a roadmap
that will ultimately enable scientists to sequence a human genome for
less than $10,000 dollars in 2009.
This advanced genomics system enables life science researchers to
sequence entire genomes of all organisms at a much lower cost. It also
expands the menu of applications into gene expression and epigenetic
analysis, ultimately allowing customers to move one step closer to
mainstream use of genomic data for clinical research and personalized
medicine.
The SOLiD 3 System, which is distinguished by unparalleled throughput
and unmatched accuracy, has generated 40 gigabases of data per
sequencing run in Applied Biosystems’ research and development
laboratories, with an accuracy of 99.94% due to 2-base encoding
algorithms.
The combination of these performance attributes further establishes
Applied Biosystems’ next-generation sequencing approach as the
technology platform of choice for a broad range of advanced genomics
research. The SOLiD System is also achieving 100 base pair read lengths
per sequencing run, enabling the platform’s use for metagenomic and de
novo applications. Additionally, the system has demonstrated up to 1
billion sequencing tags per run for RNA analysis applications.
“The launch of the SOLiD 3 System represents a revolutionary step in
next-generation sequencing,” said Greg Lucier, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Life Technologies. “The ability to sequence an
entire genome at ever lower costs and with greater efficiency will
enable fundamental changes in how we identify and treat disease. Life
Technologies is committed to remaining on the forefront of sequencing
technology with the current generation, as well as future
breakthroughs.”
The new SOLiD 3 System is utilizing the combined power of Life
Technologies to enable a suite of integrated, application-focused
workflow solutions. These workflows accelerate genomic discovery,
characterization, and screening for large-scale genome mapping and
disease studies.
Expanded menu of applications encourages new experimental
approaches
In order to understand complex biological processes, researchers need
a comprehensive suite of applications to conduct global analysis of
cellular networks at all levels. The SOLiD 3 System will dramatically
improve research performance, throughput, quality, and cost across a
wide range of applications, including epigenomic, transcriptome and
genome analysis, driving standardization on a single platform.
With the SOLiD 3 System, life science researchers will be able to
conduct comprehensive investigations of gene variation, gene expression
and gene regulation in tandem, in order to develop a more comprehensive,
system-wide view of basic biological function.
By combining these applications with the availability of lower cost
genomic data on the SOLiD 3 System, life scientists will be able to
accelerate disease association and biomarker discovery studies to
improve diagnostics and more effectively manage disease.
“The SOLiD 3 System is the most scalable platform on the market and
will allow our customers to move beyond single genome sequencing into
gene expression profiling, making it the primary technology for system
biology and disease studies,” said Kip Miller, President of Genetic
Systems at Life Technologies. “We will continue to invest significant
R&D resources to further enhance the SOLiD platform, continuing to
enhance performance, while driving costs downward toward the $1,000
genome milestone.”
The SOLiD System is widely used around the world in research
laboratories, genome centres, core and contract service facilities, as
well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Researchers are
utilizing the SOLiD technology for a variety of genomics applications,
including resequencing for disease studies, transcriptome analysis, de
novo sequencing and methylation profiling.
Jesse Gray, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Greenberg Laboratory
at Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School, has extensive
experience with the SOLiD technology and is upgrading to the SOLiD 3
System to continue his research involving an in-vitro model for neuronal
activation.
In one study, the researchers are conducting RNA sequencing to
examine how gene expression changes when neurons are activated by
potassium depolarization. Using the same model, researchers are also
using the SOLiD 3 System to look at protein transcription factors
binding to DNA, using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing. By
combining the two data sets, researchers have been able to uncover
aspects of activity-induced gene expression that were previously
undetected.
“One of the most promising and exciting aspects of next-generation
sequencing technologies is the potential they afford to gain deeper
insight into the evolution of genomes,” said Dr. Gray. “Up until now,
we’ve been able to study the evolution of genomes by looking at the
conservation of sequence throughout a broad range of phylogenies. What
we'll be able to see going forward is what has actually changed
throughout the course of evolution in the genome and how those changes
alter which RNAs are produced, which ultimately leads to phenotypic
evolution.”
Applied Biosystems is a global leader in providing innovative
instrument systems to accelerate academic and clinical research, drug
discovery and development, pathogen detection and forensic DNA analysis.
The technologies it markets include a robust line of DNA sequencing
systems and chemistries to meet the increasing demands of the scientific
community for higher throughput, more sophisticated DNA sequencing
solutions. Applied Biosystems, together, with Invitrogen – a leading
provider of platform independent, essential life science technologies
for disease and drug research, bioproduction and diagnostics – is part
of Life Technologies Corporation, which markets the life science
industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of solutions for molecular and
cell biology. Applied Biosystems and Invitrogen products are used in
nearly every major laboratory in the world.
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