A Dark Horse.

The $100 sequenced human genome.

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1. Ultima Genomics, an upstart some observers have called a “dark horse” in the world of DNA sequencing, will soon launch a line of high-power instruments that can read a human genome for as little as $100, the company’s leadership told STAT. The sequencer, dubbed the UG 100, is a $1.5 million machine that can read up to 20,000 human genomes a year. The reagents required to operate the instrument cost as little as $1 per billion sequenced DNA bases; that translates to $100 per genome assuming each base in the 3-gigabase human genome is read 33 times, a common industry standard. The company plans to officially launch the product at this year’s Advances in Genome Biology and Technology meeting, which kicks off in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 5. (Sources: ultimagenomics.com, statnews.com)

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2. The Human Genome Project was a landmark global scientific effort whose signature goal was to generate the first sequence of the human genome. It was the most important biomedical research undertaking of the 20th Century. In 2003, the Human Genome Project produced a genome sequence that accounted for over 90% of the human genome. It was as close to complete as the technologies for sequencing DNA allowed at the time. The cost of producing that sequence was ~$3 billion. Twenty years later, it’s $100. (Source: genome.gov)

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