Pacific Biosciences' sequencer has made it from idea to tangible product, with its recent shipments of its PacBio RS instrument — though this BusinessWeek article points out that sequencing has been, and will continue to be, a challenging field for a company to make its mark on. However, PacBio is hopeful about its sequencing technology. "The ability to observe these things in real time has been the goal of modern biology for the last 50 years," says CSO Eric Schadt.