"Advances in technology have made it possible to sequence a whole human genome [1,2]. National and international funding initiatives have stimulated whole-genome research activities [3,4], and media coverage of both the science [5,6] and the emerging commercial offerings [7,8]related to genome research has heightened public awareness and interest in personal genomics. As technology continues to advance, whole-genome research activities seem likely to intensify and expand, necessitating carefully considered consensus guidelines for ethical research practice."
"Even as the X Prize Foundation kicks off its $10 million competition for super-efficient automobiles, it’s working on plenty more prizes to come. X Prize co-founder Peter Diamandis says he’s aiming for two new prizes every year, focusing on five fields."
"Last month, Barun K Gorain, a non-resident Indian with Canadian company Barrick Gold Corporation came to Delhi with a $10-million proposal for suggesting a viable method to recover silver from Barrick’s gold mines in Argentina."
"On a cold day in January, Dan Stoicescu, a millionaire living in Switzerland, became the second person in the world to buy the full sequence of his own genetic code. He is also among a relatively small group of individuals who could afford the $350,000 price tag."
"The Personal Genome Project, led by Harvard Medical School professor George Church, got a boost from Google late last year, according to a report today from Bloomberg."
"VisiGen Biotechnologies, Inc., was awarded US Patent No. 7,329,492, "Methods for Real-time Single Molecule Sequence Determination," European and Australian counterparts have also recently issued. VisiGen's President, Dr. Susan Hardin, Ph.D. said, "We have the real path to the $1,000 human genome." VisiGen's sequencing methodology can be used to sequence the genome of a human or any other life form."
"A person wanting to know his or her complete genetic blueprint can already have it done — for $350,000.
But whether a personal genome readout becomes affordable to the rest of us could depend on efforts like the one taking place secretly in a nondescript Silicon Valley industrial park. There, Pacific Biosciences has been developing a DNA sequencing machine that within a few years might be able to unravel an individual’s entire genome in minutes, for less than $1,000. The company plans to make its first public presentation about the technology on Saturday."
"JUST as computers used to occupy entire rooms, and were able to make only a few thousand computations a second, so the first DNA-sequencing machines were able to read only about 5,000 genetic “letters” a day. Technology changes. Now it is possible for a single machine to sequence a human genome of about 3 billion letters in two months. At this rate, those 5,000 letters would take less than ten seconds.
"Harvard geneticist and Human Genome Project leader George Church has entered a team in the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics contest. He's an early favorite in the $10 million contest, and -- good news for the rest of us -- he's an open-source software fan."
"A local group has finally thrown its hat into the ring for the $10 million Archon X Prize for Genomics, and it’s a biggie: the newly minted Personal Genome X-Team (PGx), led by genomics pioneer George Church."
"Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church, 53, who helped originate the Human Genome Project, is set to announce he will lead a team that will compete for the X Prize. Church said he hopes his Personal Genome X team, vying with five rivals from both sides of the Atlantic, will accomplish the task in 2008."
"Hodosh was named senior director of the Archon X Prize for Genomics. This is the genomics equivalent of the original Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight, won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace designer Burt Rutan. Basically, Hodosh’s job is to help give away $10 million to the first team that can sequence the genomes of 100 people in 10 days for less than $10,000 per genome. “This will undoubtedly revolutionize medicine if we’re successful in this challenge,” Hodosh predicts."
"What human genetics needs is a celebrity spokesman. That's one idea behind a high-profile effort to speed gene research. Billionaire Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft, and CNN talk show host Larry King are among those who have signed on to have their genes sequenced as part of the Archon X Prize..."
"The Santa Monica-based X PRIZE Foundation has announced the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, a $10 million award designed to encourage the creation of technology that can successfully map one hundred human genomes in ten days. It is hoped that the award, the largest medical prize in history, will usher in a new era of personalized prevent..."
"The X PRIZE Foundation is hoping the cash prize will inspire someone to sequence the human genome faster and cheaper than in the past. $10 million dollars will be given for decoding the genomes of 100 people, including wealthy donors and celebrities."
"The people who spurred private spaceflight with a $10 million prize are doing the same for personalized medicine. The X PRIZE Foundation is offering $10 million to the first company that can process the genetic codes of 100 people in just 10 days an advancement that experts say is still at least five years away. “We need new and better technology to get down the road to individualized medicine,” said genome mapping pioneer J. Craig Venter, co-chair of the Archon X PRIZE scientific a..."
"Are the rich and famous really different from the rest of us, down in their genes? Time will tell. The X PRIZE Foundation, sponsor of a widely noted 2004 award for developing a reusable rocket suitable for private space travel, says it is now teaming with a wealthy Canadian geologist to offer $10 million to any team that can completely decode the genes of 100 people in 10 days. And that's not all. As an encore, the winning team will be paid $1 million more to decode another 100 people's ge..." Download WSJ Article PDF
"A $10 million prize for cheap and rapid sequencing of the human genome was announced today by the X PRIZE Foundation of Santa Monica, Calif. The terms of the prize require competitors to sequence 100 human genomes of their choice within 10 days, and within six months those of a further 100 people chosen by the foundation. The foundation chairman, Peter H. Diamandis, said the second list would include two groups, celebrities and patients nominated by groups involved with fighting diseases."
"The 2006 Rave Awards Bryan Singer & the Man of Steel Plus The Myth of Superman Podcast Oddcasters Games World of Warcrack Science The Challenger Policy Intelligent Decision TV Viral Vidiots Blogs Real Simple Renegades The New Hollywood Business The Other Fed Chief Industrial Design How-To Hub Architecture Fixer-Uppers Tech Quick 'n' Clean Medicine Return of the Flu Books Man vs. Machine Music 100% Pure Indie PLUS The Steve Jobs Award When Peter Diamandis gave the $10 million..."
"When inventor Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne soared 63.6 miles above the Earth in October 2004, he captured the $10 million X Prize and helped inaugurate the era of commercial human space flight. The X Prize Foundation, a nonprofit-education organization, is looking to spur a new adventure -- into human genes. The Santa Monica, Calif., foundation plans to offer a $5 million to $20 million prize to the first team that completely decodes the DNA of 100 or more people in a matter of weeks..."
"Are tech prizes the best way to the cutting edge? Economists call them ex ante rewards. They are the technology prizes designed to spur innovation, challenging entrepreneurs to do something that outstrips the state-of-the-art in return for a sizable payoff. They have yielded a wealth of advances, including precision timepieces, unpickable locks and private suborbital joyrides..."
"Chalk up two new technological accomplishments for the 21st century. In both cases, the designers were motivated to be the first to do something and to win a cash prize. The Ansari X PRIZE for spaceflight paid out $10 million from a private foundation. The DARPA Grand Challenge for robotic vehicles awarded $2 million, put up by the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Using 'grand challenges' to stimulate scientific progress isn't new. In 1714 the British government offered the..."
"X PRIZE founder Peter Diamandis kicked off the conference here with a lofty goal on Thursday Our mission is to bring about radical breakthroughs, he said in his opening-day address. 's impact on people across the globe results in some grand challenges, the theme of this year's PopTech, and those were certainly not in short supply during the first two days of the event..."
"Space exploration could secure mankind's future Humans have a 'moral imperative' to open up space as a 'new frontier', says X PRIZE founder Peter Diamandis. He also believes that within the next decade humans will find ubiquitous life on Mars and, in our lifetime, millions of people will be going into space. Mr. Diamandis addressed last week's Technology, Entertainment and Design conference in Oxford, held in Europe for the first time..."
