Life Technologies Launches Ion Proton Genome Sequencer in India

Life Technologies has launched its new and more powerful semiconductor Ion Proton Sequencer in India.

It is the first benchtop next generation sequencer designed to sequence the entire human and plant genomes in a single day at a fraction of the current equipment and running costs.

The Ion Proton Sequencer is ideal for sequencing both exomes- regions in the DNA that code for protein- and human genomes.

Life Technologies' first semiconductor sequencing chip, the 'Ion Personal Genome Machine' (PGM), is one of the fastest-selling sequencers in the world. The Ion PGM is said to be the best for sequencing genes, small genomes, panels of genes or performing gene expression profiling at a low cost of $99 a chip.

Comparing the two sequencing chips, Dr. Jonathan M. Rothberg, founder and CEO of the Ion Torrent Division, said that the Ion Proton was 1,000 times more powerful than the previous one and could sequence an entire human genome in about the same amount of time.

The Ion Proton uses semiconductor sequencing technology, leapfrogging optical technology that may take months to deliver their results, said Life Technologies chairman & chief executive officer Gregory T Lucier at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco Jan.10, 2012.

The Ion Proton Sequencer enables to deliver the results at a faster pace with a lesser cost. The latest addition gives a new hope to the field that used to sequence a human genome at a high cost of $5,000 to $10,000.

The slow pace and the high instrument costs ranging between $ 500,000 and $750,000 have limited the human genome sequencing to relatively few and heavily- funded research labs.

Genotypic Technologies, one of the two famous genomic laboratories in India, has opted to adapt the new technology.