A $1000 Genetic Map

Contributor Vivek Kemp is GE’s Reporter at Large

Biologists and engineers at GE’s Global Research Center in upstate New York are working to sequence a human genome for $1000. Human genomes have been mapped before, but at considerable expense. The first, mapped in 2003, cost $500 million to sequence, according to the New York Times. Earlier this month, a Stanford University engineer, Stephen Quake, announced that he created technology that sliced that to $50,000. With the promise of a $1000 genome, each of us could have individual genetic maps, unlocking the secrets of the diseases we will contend with and how they can be treated.

John Nelson is leading GE’s pursuit.

* Read the announcement
* Read about the project on the scientists’ blog
* Read “Cost of Decoding a Genome Is Lowered” in the New York Times