CAMBRIDGE, England -- It took 10 years and around $1 billion to produce the first draft of the archetypal human genome, or "book of life."
But within the next 20 years, individual genomes may be routinely read out on so-called gene chips for a few thousand dollars as the cost of sequencing DNA plummets, industry experts told a technology conference in Cambridge on Thursday.
Partial read-outs will come even sooner, with pioneering projects analyzing the genetic profile of cancer sufferers already under way.
The result will be a revolution in medical care, allowing doctors to run a range of genetic checks for a patient's predisposition to various diseases and suitability for particular drug treatments.
"The entire genome of individuals will eventually be sequenced at birth routinely," predicted Darrin Disley, responsible for drug discovery technologies at Britain's Generics Group.
In fact, the progress made in genetic research has raised the possibility of individuals one day having access to their genome on a DVD computer disk.
More computational power, miniaturization and automation are all driving down the cost and increasing the speed at which genetic data can be read, according to Robert Lipshutz, vice-president for corporate development at Affymetrix Inc.
"This massive information processing capacity is going to significantly accelerate research in a host of areas. A new wave of research tools is on the way as we start to look at whole genome scanning," he said.
Affymetrix, based in Santa Clara, California, is a leader in producing gene chips, or microarrays, which are now widely used by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking to unravel the links between genes and disease.
The half-inch-square microscope slides carry a DNA configuration to screen for certain genes. The double-helix, or twisted ladder, structure of DNA means that one half of the molecule can be unzipped and used to "fish" for a matching half, since the two sides always join up the same way -- and this is how gene chips work.
Affymetrix's current gene chips look at up to 400,000 DNA sequences simultaneously, but the company is now working with a single wafer that can analyze 60 million sequences.
Lipshutz said his company had recently completed screening Chromosome 21 in 14 individuals. The process involved looking at 3.5 billion of the chemical base pairs that are the building blocks of DNA. That is more than the 3.1 billion sequenced in the Human Genome Project -- yet the exercise took only 10 weeks and cost just $4.5 million.
The goal of tomorrow's super-fast gene chips is to unpick the tiny genetic differences between people which make some susceptible to diseases like cancer, arthritis and diabetes.
Humans are 99.9 percent alike at the genetic level but the 0.1 percent difference is the basis for all humankind's diversity.
Genes still only offer a guide to health, since it is the interaction between the environment and our bodies that determines most diseases. But access to individual genetic data could revolutionize health care, with doctors in the future being able to check a patient's own DNA and medical history to give personalized diagnosis and treatment.
The rise of the gene chips highlights the rapid convergence of biology and computing as scientists harness the "digital" code of the genome.
Peter Hewkin, the chief executive of Cambridge Network, which groups high-tech companies in the venerable university town, believes the line between life sciences and information technology is becoming increasingly blurred.
The point is driven home by the involvement of several non-biology technology companies in the fast-growing area of bio chips, notably Motorola and Hewlett Packard.
"All science is becoming computer science," said Lipshutz.
