RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
Two different U.S. companies have announced plans to release equipment that can sequence an individual’s genome in a single day, with both machines being revealed to the public within hours of each other on Tuesday.
The first to announce their genome-sequencing machine was Ion Torrent, a Connecticut-based division of the Life Technologies Corporation, according to Reuters and Associated Press (AP) reports.
The company, which claims that its Ion Proton Sequencer is 1,000 times more powerful than existing DNA decoding technology, is currently taking orders for the tabletop machine (which is said to be about the same size as a printer) and expects it to be delivered in approximately a year.
Reuters’ Sharon Begley reports that the device will cost between $99,000 to $149,000 dollars, “making it affordable for large medical practices or clinics.” In comparison, existing devices cost up to three-quarters of a million dollars, the wire service noted.
Less than 24 hours later, the AP reported that a second firm San Diego-based Illumina also announced a new piece of equipment that, like the Ion Proton Sequencer, has the potential to decode an entire genome in about one day.
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