Knome

Ozzy Osbourne, preparing to grasp the meaning of his genome. There's been much attention lately to the failure of genomics advances to create many medical advances. From rock'n'roll comes  hope. THE mystery of why Ozzy Osbourne is still alive after decades of drug and alcohol abuse may finally be solved. The 61-year-old former Black Sabbath lead singer â who this week begins his health advice column in The Sunday Times Magazine â is to become one of only a few people in the world to have his full genome sequenced. In addition to giving Osbourne information that could help prevent…
The buzz leading up to this week's Consumer Genetics Show in Boston suggested that a major announcement would be made by the CEO of genomics technology provider Illumina, Jay Flatley. Illumina provides the most popular second-generation sequencing instrument currently on the market, the Genome Analyzer II, and has been making noises about moving into the personal genomics industry since at least the beginning of the year, so the announcement itself was not exactly a shock: Illumina is launching a personal genome sequencing service. The launch comes with a new website, the appealingly titled…
Personal genomics is a rapidly evolving game, with a clear end goal in sight: offering consumers an accurate, affordable and complete genome sequence, and providing them with tools to dig out the useful nuggets of information contained therein. That goal remains out of reach, and while DNA sequencing technology continues to mature companies in the personal genomics space are offering products at various points on the trade-off curve between information content and cost. At the low-information/low-cost end, companies such as 23andMe and deCODEme offer cheap (sub-$1000) genome scans looking at…
A couple of weeks ago I reported that personal genome sequencing company Knome had launched a publicity stunt: selling a complete genome sequence on eBay. I argued that the current information content in a human genome doesn't come anywhere near justifying that cost for most of us, although it could potentially be worthwhile for patients suffering from a severe and undiagnosed genetic disease. Nonetheless, the auction closed a few days ago with a single bid at the opening price of $68,000. At the time I was unsure whether the purchaser was a prankster or a genuine bidder, and that's still a…
Personal genome sequencing provider Knome is planning to offer a complete genome sequence to the highest bidder on eBay - with the bidding opening at $68,000. The plan, announced in an NY Times article today, is described as "essentially a publicity stunt" - the proceeds will be donated to the X Prize Foundation, a charitable trust devoted to providing cash incentives for reaching technological breakthroughs. The breakthrough that Knome is most interested in seeing achieved, of course, is the goal of the Archon X Prize for Genomics: a reward of $10 million for the first group to sequence 100…
Following the dramatic appearance of the field of personal genomics just over a year ago the major players in the field have worked hard to distinguish themselves from their competition: 23andMe has emphasised the intellectual joy of learning about genetics, and also attempted to actively engage its customers in the company's research projects; deCODEme has leaned heavily on the impressive academic credentials of its parent company, deCODE Genetics; Navigenics has committed itself utterly to an image of sober, responsible reflection on the medical information present in its customers' genomes…
Nature has a list of the top news stories of 2008, and "Personal genomics goes mainstream" comes up second: In January, an international consortium announced the launch of the 1,000 Genomes Project, which aims to provide a catalogue of human genetic variation. In October, the Personal Genome Project, which hopes to sequence and publish the genomes of as many people as possible, released initial data for ten participants. Meanwhile, as researchers wondered what they could glean from the results coming from personal-genomics companies, the prices of such services dropped. The firm 23andMe,…
This little USB drive represents the current pinnacle of luxury personal genomics. It's the product of Knome (pronounced "know me"), a Cambridge, MA-based biotech start-up fronted by genomics pioneer George Church (recently profiled in Wired). In return for $350,000, Knome's customers receive a shiny 8 Gb drive containing their entire genome sequence (or rather, a hefty fraction of it), along with specialised browser software for viewing it. $350,000 is a hell of a lot of money to fork over for a few gigabytes of data. So, how much of a return will these customers be getting on their…