November 2007 will go down as the dawn of the personal genomics era. Two companies, Google-backed
23andMe and Iceland’s
Decode Genetics, unveiled sub-$1000 whole-genome genotyping services to consumers. A third company,
Navigenics, also declared that it was preparing to offer a similar service early next year.
Now, a newcomer, Knome (pronounced "nome"), is angling to move one large step further by offering a full-genome sequencing service to well-heeled clients. But the privilege of becoming one of the first humans to own a fully decoded genome will not come cheap: prices start at $350,000. According to a company press release, Knome is now officially open for business and recruiting its first group of 20 customers.
“To date, Craig Venter and James Watson are the only named individuals to have their genome sequenced,” said Knome’s president and CEO Jorge Conde, a former investment banker. “Our first 20 clients will have a historic opportunity to help pioneer the emerging field of personal genomics. They will be among the first to know and the first to benefit from the latest advances in our rapidly developing understanding of the human genome.”
“Only very recently have costs come down to a level where it is now feasible for private individuals to be sequenced and analyzed,” said George Church, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School and Knome co-founder. “We expect this evolution to quickly usher in a new era in personalized medicine."
Expressions of Interest
Conde told Bio-IT World that Knome was “technology agnostic” when it comes to selecting a particular sequencing platform. “We’re using the newest technology platforms as we see fit,” Conde said. “Having worked in [this] space [at Helicos BioSciences], there are a lot of very intelligent people working on the challenge to get the price down to $1000.
“The two platforms that are most in use [today] are SOLiD and Solexa, but we are agnostic as to what we use,” Conde continued. “We haven’t ruled out any technologies -- we want to be able to get the best possible quality and the best price.”
Conde said that Knome has already received “several indications of interest from individuals” contemplating a full-genome sequence. As for how these first individuals will be sequenced, all Conde will say is, “We’re working with partners…. We have a plan as to how we’ll tackle the first sequences.”
Conde distinguishes Knome’s goal of full-genome sequencing with the microarray-based analyses offered by the likes of 23andMe. “Whole-genome sequencing is the endgame. It will enable us to look at nearly 100 percent of your genetic code compared to the less than 0.02 percent currently available on SNP [single-nucleotide polymorphism] chips,” he said. A full human genome sequence potentially conveys information on some 2,000 common and rare diseases, as well as 20,000 genes. The current SNP chip services, which survey 500,000-1 million variants, by definition merely skim the surface of the genome.
For $350,000, Knome’s charter clients will receive a digital copy of their DNA, as well as analysis and counseling from a team of geneticists, clinicians, and bioinformaticians. “We are bringing our clients the latest sequencing technology,” said Conde. “Analytics, privacy, and ongoing client service are as important to us as the actual sequencing.”
Knome says its clients will retain complete ownership of their genome, and will be able to share part or all of their genome data, if they so choose, with researchers and medical professionals. As for safeguarding privacy, Knome says it is “implementing confidential information management processes that have been successfully applied in the defense industry [and] architecting our technology in a manner that avoids structural weaknesses that might be vulnerable to attack.”
In addition to Church and Conde, Knome (the company recently changed its name from Cambridge Genomics) was co-founded by Sundar Subramaniam, a former student with Conde and a successful IT entrepreneur.
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