Genome Sequencing Is Here — And It’s Cheap

Quick and inexpensive genome sequencing is no longer a distant reality. A company based in Cambridge has created a machine that can read an entire genetic code in just a few weeks, and for less than $50,000. That’s how long and how much it took for the firm’s founder to decode his own genome this week.

Not long ago, the process took more than a decade and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

To find out more about the gene-analyzing machine, we visited Helicos Biosciences Corporation in Kendall Square, where we spoke with Dr. Patrice Milos, vice president and chief scientific officer of the company.