[Ip-health] Harvard Genetics Prof Races for $10 Million Prize

[Matt Price]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
*Harvard Genetics Prof Races for $10 Million Prize*

Posted By *Jacob Goldstein* On December 4, 2007 @ 8:45 am In *Genetics* | *=
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Comments*

The Health Blog has finally found a story worthy of the big movie deal we'v=
e
been dreaming of for years.

A Canadian diamond magnate puts up a $10 million prize for the first team
that can figure out a fast, cheap way to map the human genome. A Harvard me=
d
school professor looking for the next big breakthrough throws his hat into
the ring. Now if we could only find the bombshell torn between the stark
beauty and wealth of the Northwest Territories and the brilliant minds of
Cambridge labs, we'd have that movie project locked up.

Anyway, George Church <http://arep.med.harvard.edu/gmc/> is a Harvard prof
who got in early on the Human Genome Project and is now diving into the rac=
e
to make genetic sequencing cheap, says
<http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2007/12/04/x_games_for_=
scientists_offers_10m_top_prize/>this
morning's Boston Globe.

The prize, donated by Stewart Blusson of Archon
Minerals<http://finance.google.com/finance?q=3DCVE:ACS>in Vancouver, is
one of several big-money carrots announced by the X
Prize Foundation <http://www.xprize.org/> to prod scientific discovery. The
bounty will go to the first team that can map the genetic codes of 100
people in 10 days for a cost of $10,000 or less per genome.

That would be a big deal because researchers will need to map the genomes o=
f
thousands of people to amass enough knowledge of the genome to really
understand how genetic variation affects human health. (If you don't believ=
e
us, watch our interview with Craig
Venter<http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/09/28/health-blog-interview-craig-v=
enter/>=97
we got the idea from him.) It would also help lower costs enough to
make
it practical to scan patients' genomes to better understand how to treat an=
d
prevent disease.

Church, 53, will lead the sixth team racing for the prize. He told the Glob=
e
he hopes to pull off the sequencing next year.
 ------------------------------

Article printed from Health Blog: *http://blogs.wsj.com/health*

URL to article: *
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/12/04/harvard-genetics-prof-races-for-10-m=
illion-prize/
*