Complete Genomics DNA Mapping Costs Slashed

An American biotech company has reported that by 2009 it will be able to map the complete human genome for just US$5,000--a very significant reduction in price from the $100,000 to $350,000 currently priced by other companies.

The company announcing the new pricing on their product is Complete Genomics (Mountain View, CA, USA). Whereas other companies now offer testing for between $399 and $1,000, those tests are just a topical look into an individual's complete DNA profile. Determining the genetic code is seen as the answer to helping solve mysteries about human disorders, many of which have a genetic basis. "The ability to compare a significant number of genomes of people with a disease against those without the disease is central to enabling drug discovery and the development of new diagnostics,” explained Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, USA) geneticist and Complete Genomics' board member George Church, a member of Complete Genomics' scientific advisory board.

The company will not be targeting the consumer market. Instead, it will sell its technology to pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and businesses that provide genetic testing, such as the biotech company Knome (Cambridge, MA, USA). Knome, which now offers consumers complete genome sequencing for $350,000, reported that it might negotiate with Complete Genomics about adopting its technology for the public market.

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