What Does it Mean?

A $125,000 machine from Knome aims to take the pain out of genome analysis. As The New York Times reports, the cost of sequencing a human genome is dropping, though analysis is still an issue and the machine, called the knoSYS^TM100, may help researchers interpret what those sequences mean. For an extra $25,000 a year, users can get software updates and technical support.

"Basically this machine removes the need to maintain an expensive computational facility and a group of people who make sure the operating system is working and keep the reference data up to date," Peter Nagy from Columbia University says. He tells the Times that he is thinking about getting the machine to use in the clinic.

The machine, the Times adds, could be a boon for smaller labs that don't have access to such computational resources.