New Delhi: Gene-Sequencing Company Pacific Bioscience California Inc. on Tuesday announced the launch of a new, more affordable, high-throughput “long-read” sequencer as well as consumer testing of its first “short-read” sequencer aimed at emerging markets such as multi-cancer early detection.
This MenloThe California-based company said its new Review long-read sequencing systemWith a list price of $779,000, offers a 15-fold increase in throughput, enabling customers to sequence up to 1,300 human whole genomes per year for less than $1,000 per genome.
PacBio Its trademark HiFi technology — used for large-scale studies in human genetics, cancer research, agricultural genomics and more — looks at 20,000 base pairs of DNA at a time. “By being able to look at more genomes, you can find more answers,” said Christian Henry, PacBio’s chief executive officer.
The company is also entering the market for “short-read” sequencing with its external beta testing. Onso system. Onso is expected to be available for order and shipping in the first half of 2023, when it will compete with short-read systems sold by giant Illumina Inc.
Illumina is under fire from antitrust regulators in the United States and Europe after it went ahead last year with a $7.1 billion purchase of its former subsidiary Grail. Grail and several other companies are developing tests using the Illumina sequencing system to detect cancer by looking for fragments of cancer DNA in a patient’s blood.
“What you’re looking for in those diagnostic tests is a needle in a haystack. You’re trying to find a mutated piece of DNA that could be a sign of early cancer,” Henry said.
