Three sequencing companies join 1000 Genomes Project

Three firms that have pioneered development of new sequencing technologies have joined the 1000 Genomes Project — an international effort to build the most detailed map to date of human genetic variation as a tool for medical research.

The new participants are 454 Life Sciences, Applied Biosystems and Illumina Inc.

The 1000 Genomes Project, announced in January 2008, is an international research consortium that is creating a map of the human genome that will provide a view of DNA variations at a resolution unmatched by current resources.

Organisations that have already committed major support to the project are: the Beijing Genomics Institute (China); the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK); and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the US National Institutes of Health.

"The additional sequencing capacity and expertise provided by the three companies in the pilot phase will enable us to explore the human genome with even greater depth and speed than we had originally envisioned, and will help us to optimise the design of the full study to follow," said Richard Durbin of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who is co-chair of the consortium.

"It is a win-win arrangement for all involved. The companies will gain an exciting opportunity to test their technologies on hundreds of samples of human DNA, and the project will obtain data and insight to achieve its goals in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than we could without their help."

Each of the three biotech companies has agreed to sequence the equivalent of 75 billion DNA bases as part of the pilot phase — the equivalent of 25 human genomes over the next year — and additional sequence data over the project's expected three-year timeline.

In addition, Applied Biosystems will contribute an additional 200 billion bases of human sequence through its collaboration with Baylor.

Additional information about the project can be found at www.1000genomes.org.