The inquiry companyComplete Genomicshas figure out a way to sequence the human genome for less than $ 5,000 in chemicals , making it seem more likely than ever that low-cost genetical profile will become a thing of the mainstream .
Complete Genomics , a biotech start - up based in Mountain View , California , announcedlast week that it had produce three complete genome sequence for an average price of $ 4,400 apiece . The mistake rate of these chronological succession is think to be extraordinarily low , estimated at one in every 100,000 bases .
A number of companies , among them IBM , GE Global Research and Helicos BioSciences , have spent the last few age competing to get small - cost sequence technology . One of Complete Genomics ’s sequence used only $ 1,500 in materials , get it the least expensive genome to day of the month .

The $ 4,400 figure does n’t tell the whole story ; that ’s just the average value of the chemical enzyme used , and it does n’t reflect the confinement or computational costs . Still , when theHuman Genome Projectfinished the first sequence of a human genome in 2003 , the cost is believe to have beenat least $ 500 million . The latest termination from Complete Genomics amount to an incredible markdown , and the fellowship ’s competitors in the sequence industry have promised even dispirited monetary value down the line .
If and when personal genome sequencing becomes something a bulk of people can afford , it ’s likely to switch almost everything about how charge is administrate . Whatever variation might be present in an private ’s genetic code will show up in agenome sequence , including those associated with disease . Physicians would not only be able to offer preventive suggestions to their patients , but , since the genome also contains info about a person ’s metabolic reactions , they ’d have a better hazard of prescribing medicinal drug that would n’t do unwanted side effects .
Earlier this year , Jay Flatley , CEO of the biotech firm Illumina , predictedthat by 2019 , genome sequencing will be not only affordable but routine , administer to newborns before they pass on the infirmary .

Of course , it might not always be a good thing to have access to the secrets of one ’s own genetic code . sure genomic profiles could forebode a dramatically shorten life expectancy , and it ’s not heavy to imagine that some people would n’t need to go about their living with that knowledge hanging over them . The susceptibilities and predisposition revealed in a genome succession would also be of probable ( and possibly unwelcome ) interest group to insurers and employers .
If nothing else , the advent of everyday genome sequencing is sure to complicate the lexicon of care providers . If a baby displays a genomic marking for Niemann - Pick disease , does that depend as a pre - existing condition ? It ’s not a interrogative sentence we have an resolution for , but we ’ll probably need to come up with one before long .
A elaborate history of Complete Genomics ’s discount sequence method can be found atArs Technica .

Photo bymknowles , used underCreative Commons license .
Genome
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , scientific discipline , and culture tidings in your inbox daily .
News from the future , present to your present .
You May Also Like










![]()

