Posted on October 11, 2006

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X Prize Foundation Announces $10 Million Genomics Prize

The Santa Monica-based X Prize Foundation has announced the Archon X Prize for Genomics, a $10 million award designed to encourage the creation of technology that can successfully map one hundred human genomes in ten days. It is hoped that the award, the largest medical prize in history, will usher in a new era of personalized preventative medicine and stimulate new avenues of research and discovery in the medical sciences.

Widely regarded as the next frontier for science, rapid genome sequencing could eventually enable doctors to determine an individual's susceptibility to disease and his or her genetic links to cancer. According to foundation officials, mapping a person's genetic code is like taking an X-ray, allowing doctors to see inside an individual's genetic past and helping to predict his or her genetic future.

Three teams have already signed up for the competition: Houston-based VisiGen Biotechnologies, Inc.; 454 Life Sciences in Branford, Connecticut; and a team made up of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, the Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology, and Firebird Biomolecular Sciences LLC, all based in Gainesville, Florida. In addition, other companies have inquired about the prize, and more are expected to register.

In 1996, the X Prize Foundation offered the $10 million Ansari X Prize for Private Spaceflight and awarded it in 2004 to Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by renowned aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, for SpaceShipOne, the world's first private craft to fly into space. Discussing this latest prize, foundation chair Dr. Peter H. Diamandis said, "The Archon X Prize for Genomics will revolutionize personalized medicine and custom medical treatment, forever changing the face of medical research and making genome sequencing affordable and available in every hospital and medical care facility in the world."

“X Prize Foundation Announces Largest Medical Prize in History.” X Prize Foundation Press Release 10/04/06.

Primary Subject: Health
Secondary Subject(s): Medical Research, Science/Technology
Location(s): Branford, California, Connecticut, Florida, Gainesville, Houston, Santa Monica, Texas

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