~Sophia~ Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I have been involved with technical develpment/fine-tuning of completely novel sequencing biochemistry called Solexa (now since Jan part of Illumina). This machine is not available on the market yet, we were lucky to get it through the back door and for the past few months we have been working with the company on improving the method. Conventional DNA sequencing equipment typically delivers no more than approximately 1,200 bases per sample preparation, using Solexa we have been able to obtain 1.4 billion bases from a single sample (which took me two and a half days to make - in contrast Sage libraries take up to 14 days to make). This should give you some idea of the power of this method. Equipment cost of one machine is about half a million (we will soon own 3 of those - there is so much demand) - cost per run is 3,000. It takes two days for sample preparation, then 3 days to run it. Data analysis roughly a day. This is the method which is expected to be used to sequence the genomes of individual humans for the detection of key disease-predisposing mutations. I could not possibly list all of its possible applications - endless comes to mind. Very exciting! There is more info for anybody who is interested in details: Solexa sequencing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KendallJ Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Very cool. I used to be in biotech and know the issues associated with just the time and effort it takes to do this. Reducing cost and time by an order of magnitude is very exciting, and is sort of of the impact of Moore's law for computing power. The next quarter decade will be the era of the genome, and I think the advances in basic knowledge of our health issues will be advanced significantly. I fully expect to see an extra 10 years of life expectancy out of the innovations of the next few decades. Very cool! You must be excited to be a part of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Sophia~ Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 The next quarter decade will be the era of the genome, and I think the advances in basic knowledge of our health issues will be advanced significantly. I fully expect to see an extra 10 years of life expectancy out of the innovations of the next few decades. What an exiting times we live in! Very cool! You must be excited to be a part of it. You could say that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galileo Blogs Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Is the company that makes Solexa publicly traded? It appears to be a private company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Sophia~ Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Is the company that makes Solexa publicly traded? It appears to be a private company. Yes - (SLXA) but in January of this year it got purchased by Illumina (ILMN). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galileo Blogs Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Both companies have nice stock charts. SLXA had a big up-move late last year (on news leaking that ILMN would buy them?), but ILMN took a dip in January. Perhaps they overpaid for SLXA? Do you think the sale of Solexa units are a significant part of ILMN's future revenues/profits? If I am imposing on you with these questions, feel free not to answer -- no offense will be taken. However, I am curious about whether the potential of the Solexa units will show up in ILMN's stock price. As you describe it, the machine sounds like quite an advance. Of course, a best-selling machine if it is only a small part of a company's profits, or if the number of units sold is small in absolute terms, will not have a large effect on a stock. On the other hand, if it is a large and fast-growing part of a company's profits, or could be, the stock could go up considerably. In case you are wondering, yes I am in the investment business! My best to you in working with a great technology in a great industry. I share Kendall's enthusiasm for the prospect that the type of things you are working on will add years to my life. The power of capitalist technology is outweighing the dead-hand of creeping socialism. Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Sophia~ Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Do you think the sale of Solexa units are a significant part of ILMN's future revenues/profits? I don't know. What I do know is that market opportunity in genetic sequencing is estimated at $1 billion. From Forbes: Alastair Mackay, an analyst for Garp Research and Securities said he expects a dilutive effect from the deal until 2009 and said the market is reacting to the price tag on the acquisition. Long-term however, he said the deal is "a very good strategic move on Illumina's part". "It's a great mix of technologies," the analyst said. "I think in the long run it's going to very beneficial." My best to you in working with a great technology in a great industry. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KendallJ Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 GB's right then. It's more a growth bet and won't pan out as a stock investment near term but rather in the middle term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Sophia~ Posted March 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Personalized cancer therapy gets closer NATURE |Vol 458|12 March 2009 ... Marco Marra, director of the British Columbia Cancer Agency’s Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver, told attendees at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology meeting on Marco Island, Florida, that his group had sequenced the whole genome of a tumour that had spread from one patient’s mouth to his lung. The group had also used gene expression studies to compare the activity of his tumour genes to those in healthy tissue. They found that the patient had mutations in a tumour-suppressor gene called PTEN, and abnormally high expression of a gene downstream of PTEN, called RET. This explained why he had not responded to treatment with the drug Erlotinib, and fits with some earlier studies suggesting that patients with active PTEN respond better to erlotinib2. Marra’s team recommended instead that the patient be put on a drug called Sunitinib, which inhibits the protein made by RET. The patient’s cancer subsequently regressed. “This work illustrates how one can potentially use next-generation sequencing technologies to establish the appropriate course of cancer treatment for individual patients,” says Eric Green, scientific director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Studies such as Marra’s are being conducted in many patients to find genetic traits that could predict how tumours respond to treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian0918 Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Wow, very interesting stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted March 17, 2009 Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 Wonderful news. The implication is we could be within reach of a cure for (at least some) cancer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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