Dozens of companies have been vying for some time to sequence a genome for
less than $1,000
. (The eternal optimists at the Singularity Hub
predicted
that someone would crack the $1,000 ceiling by the end of 2009.) The $1,000 mark is, of course, arbitrary in some ways, playing on our delight in rounded numbers. But low-cost genetic sequencing would certainly help bring about the personalized medicine we’ve been promised so long. Complete Genomics founder Clifford Reid has predicted that whole-genome sequencing could someday come “at a cost comparable to a comprehensive blood test.”