ROCKVILLE, Md.--Celera is expected to announce at any moment that it has completed the human genome sequence. Instead, so far this month, it has announced a string of other achievements.
On June 1, Celera said that it had sequenced more than one billion base pairs of the mouse genome, which it began sequencing on April 6. The mouse sequence data is expected to be used in a human genome annotation jamboree that Celera will reportedly host in June or July.
Celera also announced that it established a deal with Geron, a company with expertise in human pluripotent stem cell biology, by which it will identify and determine the function of genes important in early human development. Celera will use data derived from the collaboration to enhance annotation of the human genome and develop and commercialize probe sets for gene expression analysis. Geron will develop and commercialize small molecule drugs and other products.
Celera also said it had closed its acquisition of Paracel, a genomic and text analysis supercomputing technology company. All equity of Paracel was exchanged for approximately 2.26 million shares of Celera stock.