$10 Million for 100 genomes

A wealthy Canadian geologist named Stewart Blusson, who found a pile of diamonds in 1991 south of the Arctic Circle, is donating $10 million for an X Prize that will be awarded to the scientists who can find a way to decode 100 human genomes in 10 days.

And that's not all. As an encore, the winning team will be paid $1 million more to decode another 100 people's genes, including a bevy of wealthy donors and celebrities. Already accepted for future decoding: Google Inc. co-founder Larry Page, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul G. Allen and former junk-bond king Michael Milken.

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Foundation officials said other well-known people had agreed to be decoded, including physicist Stephen Hawking and television personality Larry King. In an email, Dr. Hawking's office praised the project. A representative for Mr. King couldn't be reached late Tuesday to confirm his participation.

The National Human Genome Research Institute has had a call out for a machine that could decode one human genome for $1,000. Francis Collins didn't get that for Christmas in 2004 like he hoped, but the $10 million prize should speed up the spectrum of genome decoding efforts.

Scientists decoded a draft composite human genome in 2000, but since all humans share DNA that's about 99.9 percent identical, comparing individual genome will likely be a big step towards meaningful medical discoveries.