Genome prize axed

摘要

It is an anticlimax, to say the least. The $10 million Archon Genomics X Prize - intended to spur a revolution in fast, cheap and accurate human-genome sequencing - has been abruptly cancelled just shy of its start date. The prize had asked innovators to design devices that could sequence 100 human genomes in 30 days or fewer, with goals for accuracy and cost. The cash was tc be up for grabs from 5 September. Peter Diamandis, chair of the X Prize Foundation in Playa Vista, California, says the prize was withdrawn because it was outpaced by innovation. Today, companies are routinely sequencing human genomes for little more than the $1000 per genome the prize specified.