454 Life Sciences and Baylor College of Medicine Complete Sequencing of DNA Project

The Genome of James Watson is the First to be Sequenced for Less than $1 Million

04-Jun-2007

454 Life Sciences Corporation, in collaboration with scientists at the human genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of medicine, announced the completion of a project to sequence the genome of James D. Watson, Ph.D., co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA. The mapping of Dr. Watson's genome was completed using the Genome Sequencer FLX(TM) system and marks the first individual genome to be sequenced for less than $1 million, according to the company.

"When we began the Human Genome Project, we anticipated it would take 15 years to sequence the 3 billion base pairs and identify all the genes," said Richard Gibbs, Ph.D. , director, Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine. "We completed it in 13 years in 2003 - coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the publication of the work of Watson and Dr. Francis Crick that described the double helix. Today, we give James Watson a DVD containing his personal genome - a project completed in only two months. It demonstrates how far sequencing technology has come in a short time."

Christopher McLeod, president and CEO of 454 Life Sciences, added: "The sequencing of Dr. Watson's genome validates the approach taken by 454 Life Sciences in developing a technology to make the sequencing of individual human genomes quick and affordable. As we take another step on the path toward the X-Prize and reducing the cost of human genome sequencing to $10,000, we hope to enable a new era of medicine that is tailored to a patient's unique genetic profile."

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