Stanford engineer slashes sequencing cost to $50,000

The Stanford engineer who founded Helicos Biosciences used the technology he helped create to sequence his own genome for less than $50,000. That's just a fraction of the $250,000 cost that had briefly served as an industry standard as new technology continues to rapidly push down the cost of sequencing. And Stephen R. Quake says he believes that the goal of a $1,000 sequencing process--a development that will put a DNA blueprint within reach of the average American--can be achieved within two or three years.

Even at $50,000, says Quake, a whole new range of genomic research work can now be undertaken at hospitals and labs around the world. In his work, three people using the Heliscope Single Molecule Sequencer over a period of four weeks were able to complete the sequencing. Six years ago, the first sequencing program cost around half a billion dollars. And even up until now sequencing required big staffs and access to expensive technology. The Heliscope Single Molecule Sequencer costs around a million dollars.

"We are about to see the floodgates opened and many human genomes sequenced," Quake told the New York Times. 

- read the article in the New York Times

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