The ‘Million Dollar’ Interpretation

From the moment that it was envisioned, the $1,000 decoded genome drew a sardonic rejoinder: Nice, but what about the $1 million analysis? Nonetheless, the decade following the initial decoding of the genome, which cost $3 billion, was characterized by a focus on streamlining the sequencing technology without much of a concern for interpreting all the data. But now, with Illumina claiming to have hit the $1,000 mark with its HiSeq X Ten sequencer earlier this year, attention in genomics has turned to the several stages of analysis that must follow the generation of the sequencing data known as base calls. As with sequencing technology up to now, the focus in data analytics is on cutting time and bringing down costs for researchers. But data analysis providers also have their eye on moving the analysis out of the research arena into the clinic and, eventually, into handheld devices that will ...