Genomics X Prize is announced

At a press conference last week in Washington, D.C., the X Prize Foundation, an educational nonprofit institute based in Santa Monica, Calif., introduced the $10 million Archon X Prize for Genomics, the largest medical prize in history. The prize will go to the first group that can successfully sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days. A single human genome currently costs about $10 million to sequence and takes several months to complete to draft coverage, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. Three teams have already signed up for the competition: one led by President and CEO Susan Hardin of VisiGen Biotechnologies, Houston; another headed by President and CEO Christopher K. McLeod of 454 Life Sciences, Branford, Conn.; and a consortium led by University of Florida chemistry professor Steven A. Benner. Other teams are expected to register soon. The prize, sponsored by Archon Minerals, Vancouver, British Columbia, and its president, Stewart Blusson, is designed to "usher in a new era of personalized preventive medicine" and stimulate genomics R&D.