Solexa

Solexa, Inc. is developing and preparing to commercialize a new platform designed to perform a range of analyses including whole genome resequencing, gene expression analysis and micro-RNA analysis. The system leverages Solexa's proprietary Clonal Single-Molecule Array™ technology and Reversible Terminator chemistry to provide rapid, accurate, and cost-effective sequence data at an anticipated scale of over one billion bases per run. Given the system's expected unique combination of flexibility, productivity, and cost-effectiveness, researchers will be able to conduct experiments that would not otherwise be possible. Among them:

• Large-Scale Whole Genome Human Sequencing: by reducing the cost per re-sequenced genome to under $100,000 per sample, Solexa's platform will allow researchers to interrogate entire genomes faster and more economically than they can currently characterize a small fraction of the genes in the genome.
• Digital Whole Genome Expression Profiling: using millions of short sequence tags per sample, Solexa's platform will generate digital expression profiles at costs comparable to today's analogue methods.
• Discovery and Quantification of Small RNA: as recently published in Science (Lu C et al Science 2005 Sep 2; 309 (5740): 1567-9), Solexa's technology can be applied uniquely to the comprehensive discovery and characterization of small RNAs in a wide range of species.

Solexa's platform, which is anticipated to be introduced to the market this year, promises to transform genetic analyses by making practical experiments that were previously impossible due to the high cost and limited scale of existing tools.