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Wyss Institute at Harvard University Enters $10 Million X PRIZE Competition

Boston, MA, (October 03, 2012) — George Church, Ph.D., well known for his pioneering contributions to genomic science, announced last night that he is leading a team from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University in the Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Express Scripts competition — a 30-day competition that is easy to get excited about, even for those who do not wear a white coat to work every day.
Teams will vie to be the first to rapidly and accurately sequence 100 whole human genomes at a cost of $1,000 or less each, to an accuracy standard never before achieved — and to win up to $10 million as a result in the September 2013 competition.  The genomes are being donated by 100 volunteer centenarians (ages 100 or older) whose “rare genes” could harbor clues to health and longevity.
  


  
  





  
        
Life Technologies to Compete in $10 Million  Archon Genomics X PRIZE

    
  
  

    
Los Angeles, CA  (July 23, 2012) — The X PRIZE Foundation today announced that Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is the first team to officially register under the new guidelines for the Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Express Scripts where teams will compete for up to $10 million by being the first to rapidly and accurately sequence 100 whole human genomes at a cost of $1,000 or less each to a standard never before achieved. The result of this competition will be the world’s first clinical standard that will transform genome sequencing into usable medical information to improve patient diagnosis and treatment.
The Ion Torrent X PRIZE team, led by CEO and Founder Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, will use the company’s new benchtop Ion Proton™  Sequencer in the competition. Ion Torrent technology is based on a fundamentally new semiconductor device that enables chemical signals to be directly translated into digital information for the first time, much like the CMOS imager in an iPhone that directly translates photons into electrons to take pictures.
  


  
  





  
        
$10 Million Archon Genomics X PRIZE to Sequence  100 Centenarians’ DNA and Announces Medco  as Presenting Sponsor 

    
  
  

    
New York (October 26, 2011) — The X PRIZE Foundation today announced a number of major changes to its Archon Genomics X PRIZE, the $10 million competition designed to drive breakthroughs in the future of predictive and personalized medicine to make significant advances in human genome sequencing. Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS), a leading pharmacy benefit manager, has joined as the competition’s Presenting Sponsor. The X PRIZE Foundation and Medco stated the competing teams will sequence 100 genomes of centenarians.
This competition, whose purse and partial operations are underwritten by a generous grant from Dr. Stewart and Marilyn Blusson, will now be renamed the Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Medco®.*  


Through advanced competition guidelines, the Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Medco will measure teams on accuracy, cost, speed and completeness of genome sequencing. The competition’s audacious target criteria for accuracy and completeness of sequencing will define for the first time a “medical grade” genome.  
  


  
  


  



 
  

      
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