NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - The National Center for Genome Resources in Santa Fe, NM, said today it plans to officially launch the New Mexico Genome Sequencing Center on Nov. 19.
The NMGSC, the product of a partnership between the NCGR and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, will use two Illumina Genome Analyzers in studies that will sequence and analyze an undisclosed assortment of diseases and crops.
NCGR President Stephen Kingsmore said the center, which will be able to sequence about 400 million bases a day, will allow state researchers to perform studies of the molecular causes of diseases.
“We also are sequencing a variety of crops, which will allow us to develop new uses for those crops and breed improved crops that can withstand severe weather or disease,” Kingsmore added.
Part of the financial backing for the new center came from the New Mexico state government, NCGR said in January when it secured $600,000 to buy its first sequencer.
Seven months later the NMGSC disclosed that it chose the Illumina sequencers over Applied Biosystems’ SOLiD platform and Roche’s 454 sequencer.