New Project to Link Whole Human Genome Research

Illumina announces a new global network to provide scientists with access to its sequencing technology. This Illumina Genome Network is a global partnership designed to link researchers interested in conducting large-scale whole human genome sequencing projects with leading institutions that can perform such projects using Illumina sequencing.

With the rapidly increasing output of the Illumina HiSeq™ 2000, and the commensurate reduction in the price of sequencing genomes, more and more researchers are looking to advance their projects by leveraging this transformational technology,” said Christian Henry, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Life Sciences. “By creating the Illumina Genome Network, we believe we can catalyze the development of the market for whole human genome sequencing and help the research community to accelerate the rate of research in human health and population genetics.”

The Illumina Genome Network will include leading academic and commercial institutions worldwide that can rapidly process large-scale sequencing projects. Participating institutions must also have completed Illumina’s Certified Service Provider (CSPro) certification. Illumina will serve as the channel to connect interested researchers with Network partners that will then perform the sequencing. The Network will focus on offering only whole genome human sequencing services for large scale projects. GMI/Macrogen Inc. and the National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) have already enrolled as partners in the Network. Illumina is in discussions with a number of other institutions about potentially joining the Network, among them the Broad Institute, BGI, University of Washington Department of Genome Sciences, and deCODE Genetics.