NISKAYUNA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), today announced that it has received a $900,000 grant from National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop breakthrough technologies that will enable a human-sized genome to be sequenced for under $1,000 and take less than one day to complete. With current technology, the cost is now estimated to be between $10 million to $50 million and the time of sequencing takes at least one year.
Dr. John Nelson, a molecular biologist in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Lab will lead the research project in Niskayuna. Dr. Nelson, along with several colleagues at Global Research and GE Healthcare, were instrumental in developing the DNA sequencing technologies that helped enable the original sequencing of the human genome in the late 1990s. Dr. Nelson is now part of Global Research's Biosciences technology organization, which GE established four years ago to support long-range research endeavors in health care. The organization now has a team of more than 70 scientists.
"We are extremely pleased to receive this award. It is a perfect project to leverage the broad range of skills found in the Biosciences organization, and one that will ensure GE remains a leader in the DNA sequencing field," Dr. Nelson said. "We are very excited to be involved in a project that could have such a huge impact in health care. There are new examples every day where inexpensive personal DNA sequence information would be beneficial, and this need is only going to increase."
A genome is the collection of a person's DNA, and is the blueprint that codes for the unique traits that define every individual. The availability of faster, inexpensive DNA sequencing would have a profound impact on biological research. It would dramatically increase the amount of genetic data that researchers can study to find sequences in humans underlying such common diseases as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and cancers.
As opposed to studying a few genes at a time, researchers would be able to take a more comprehensive and systematic approach to studying and comparing whole genomes that could yield far more insight into diagnosing, preventing and/or treating a given disease. Moreover, treatments could potentially be customized to each individual.
"The ability to bring entire genome sequencing into the mainstream will be vital to helping GE realize its vision of early health," says Dr. Michael Montalto, head of molecular imaging and diagnostics advanced technologies for Global Research. "This award will support a critical research effort under way at Global Research to deliver the technology necessary, so that sequencing will indeed be faster, more cost-effective and more accessible.
"Today, it takes at least one year to sequence 10 individuals at a cost exceeding well over $100 million," Montalto added. "If GE's technology is fully realized, we may be able to sequence more than 100,000 people in less than a day at the same cost. This kind of change would be revolutionary, dramatically accelerating our ability to discover predispositions to diseases, new drug treatments and responses to treatments."
The grant awarded to Global Research is part of a comprehensive effort by the NHGRI to support research that accelerates the development of innovative sequencing technologies that reduce the cost of DNA sequencing and expands the use of genomics in medical research and health care. The NHGRI issues genome technology grant awards to researchers to bring the cost of sequencing a human genome to under $100,000 in the near term, as well as revolutionary approaches to achieve the $1,000 genome. Global Research's grant award is a "$1,000" genome grant.
As part of the two-year project, Dr. Nelson and his research team will use a combination of enzyme and dye-tagged nucleotide resources, the building block of DNA, in a novel way that will simplify the fundamental, front-end chemistry of massively parallel sequencing-by-synthesis. This method uses the natural catalytic cycle of DNA polymerase to capture just a single DNA base on an immobilized primer/template. A fluorescence scanner will be used to scan and identify hundreds of thousands of individual DNA molecules at once. Then the cycle will be repeated.
The award is segmented into two phases, with the initial two-year goal aiming to demonstrate proof of principle for this novel methodology. If specific milestones are met, the project proposal includes an additional funding option to develop a prototype of automated instrumentation.
About GE Global Research
GE Global Research was the first industrial research lab in the United States and is one of the world's most diversified research centers, providing innovative technology for all of GE's businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years, developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as medical imaging, energy generation, jet engines, advanced materials and lighting. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New York and has facilities in Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China; and Munich, Germany. Visit GE Global Research at www.research.ge.com.
About the NHGRI
NHGRI is one of the 27 institutes and centers at NIH. The NHGRI Division of Extramural Research supports grants for research and training and career development at sites nationwide. Additional information about NHGRI can be found at www.genome.gov.
The National Institutes of Health - "The Nation's Medical Research Agency" - includes 27 institutes and centers, and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more, visit www.nih.gov.
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