Genome for a thousand dollars: we are going to the finish line

Genomic Race
A quick DNA test may soon become a banal medical procedureGrigory Domovoy, "Moscow News", 12.01.2012

The race for a cheap and fast reading of the human genome seems to be nearing the finish line. Two private companies in the United States announced that this year they will launch devices capable of producing the full text of the DNA nucleotide sequence for just a thousand dollars and one day. The scientific community, however, looks at these promises with some skepticism.

Ten years ago, the complete reading of the human genome was a scientific megaproject, the completion of which was rightfully recognized as one of the most significant results of 2003. It took 13 years for geneticists, molecular biology specialists and representatives of a number of other specialties to work, and the US government spent $ 3 billion on financing the project. The commercial group of Craig Venter, a well-known specialist in the field of biotechnology, coped in less time and the amount was ten times less, but 300 million in a few years was also clearly not available to everyone.

Venter's group read the human genome faster and cheaper, not just due to better organization, but also due to technological progress. The organizers of both the commercial and state project understood that along with the sequence of nucleotide pairs themselves, their offspring would also give humanity new methods of genome analysis that would be faster and cheaper. And this, in turn, will lead to the beginning of a completely new era, at least in science and medicine.

Already in the mid-noughties, it became possible to talk about projects to read the genome of representatives of a particular nationality, to decipher the complete genome of a Neanderthal and to search for genes responsible for certain diseases by sequentially analyzing the genomes of many people at once. Now, in January 2012, we can confidently talk about overcoming the $10,000 mark for a complete reading of an individual genome, and prices continue to fall.

Cheap reading of the genome is important for several reasons. Firstly, knowledge of the set of genes inherited by a person makes it possible to better assess the risks of developing a particular disease. Secondly, some gene variants can determine not only the risk of diseases, but also the severity of side effects from drugs or the effectiveness of drugs. Thirdly, mass reading of the genome will help scientists of various specialties – doctors will be able to better understand the causes of multifactorial diseases (schizophrenia, for example), and anthropologists will be able to reconstruct the history of a particular people in detail.

The Californian company Life Technologies, which already produces DNA sequencing equipment, announced plans to produce a new Ion Proton device that will be able to read the genome for the amount of $ 1,000 and one day. And its competitors, represented by Illumina, which has already firmly established itself on the market, announced the release of HiSeq 2500, a device that can be either purchased separately or obtained by upgrading the HiSeq 2000 model that previously entered the market. Such optimistic forecasts, however, caused some confusion among some experts.

For example, Isaac Ro, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Bank, notes that the Proton II biochip used for DNA sequencing alone now costs a thousand dollars, so Life Technologies will have to try very hard to reduce the price of sequencing in general – with reagents, depreciation of equipment and salaries of laboratory assistants. Similar obstacles face their rivals, but Illumina has a bonus: the equipment of this company is already in many laboratories and its modernization, promised by the company for a relatively modest $ 50,000, will be more attractive than buying a new device for 244 thousand from Life Technologies.

It is still unclear who will win the race. But it is already obvious that there is not much left before taking the threshold of 1 thousand dollars and one day: if they do not overcome it this year, they will take it next. The race for high-speed reading of the genome has finally moved from a scientific and fundamental track to a commercial track, so by the end of this decade, a complete reading of DNA can become, albeit expensive, but routine medical analysis.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
12.01.2012