James Watson did it. So did Craig Venter. Now you can too. On Thursday, Knome, a personal-genomics startup based in Cambridge, MA, announced the launch of the first commercial whole-genome sequencing service. Only 20 people will get to be part of Knome’s first sequencing flight; interested parties can find out more here.
While the price tag is likely to be out of reach for all but a lucky few, the cost is significantly cheaper than Watson’s $1 million genome or the Human Genome Project’s $3 billion effort. “Only very recently have costs come down to a level where it is now feasible for private individuals to be sequenced and analyzed. We expect this evolution to quickly usher in a new era in personalized medicine,” said George Church, a cofounder of the firm and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, in a press release from the company.
Knome’s announcement follows several other major personal-genomics offerings in the past few weeks. Three companies–deCode Genomics, based in Iceland, and the much-hyped startups 23andMe and Navigenics, both based in California–announced new gene-analysis services. However, those companies offer microarray-based analysis, meaning that they will search your DNA for a million specific genetic variations rather than read the entire sequence.
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