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AGBT Turns 25: A Short History of Genome Technology

NEW YORK – The Advances in Genome Biology and Technology meeting, long considered the preeminent conference for new genomic technologies and their research applications, turned 25 this year.

Over the years, the annual meeting, which took place in Marco Island, Florida, last week, has hosted a succession of technology launches, marking the shift from Sanger capillary electrophoresis sequencing to next-generation sequencing and, more recently, to spatial and multiomics platforms.

GenomeWeb, which has been there from the very beginning, dug deep into its archive to bring back the "best of" our AGBT reporting, including launches of new sequencing and genomics platforms from 454 Life Sciences, Solexa/Illumina, Applied Biosystems, Helicos, PacBio, Ion Torrent, Oxford Nanopore, MGI/Complete Genomics, Qiagen, GenapSys, 10x Genomics, Nanostring, and more. Below is a selection of AGBT stories from 2020 to 2024. For this year's AGBT coverage, click here.

2000

Organizers of New Genomics Meeting Promise More Science, Less Marketing

2001

Back to Marco Island: Sun, Surf, Serious Lectures

2003

Conferences A Truce? Fraser, Hunkapiller to Keynote at Marco Island

Fuller Debuts SNP-Scoring Tech (sort of) at Marco Island

2004

Sequencing Is So 2003: Biology, PGx in Vogue at AGBT Conference

DNA Sequencing Baylor's Metzker Strives for Four-Laser Suitcase Sequencer

2005

At Marco Island, the Human Microbiome Tells Us We're All Mostly Bugs

2006

At Marco Island, New Sequencing Techs Steal the Show

JGI Says Combining Sanger and 454 Sequencing is Best Approach for De Novo Microbial Sequencing

2007

At Marco Island, Next-Gen Sequencers Reach Milestone as Outside Researchers Show Data

Sanger Team Offers First Look at How Three Next-Gen Sequencers Stack Up

Helicos Talks About Homopolymer Troubles; Solution Paves Way to 2007 Beta-Testing

In WashU's Sequencing Lab, Solexa's GA Saw 'Hurdles,' But Matured to Yield 1Gb of Data

2008

PacBio to Start Selling Next-Gen Sequencer To Early Users in 2010; Goal is 100 Gb/Hour

At AGBT, 454, Illumina, ABI Vow to Improve Speed, Yield, Quality of Next-Gen Offerings

Helicos Ships First HeliScope, Plans To Improve System Later This Year

Danaher to Ship First Church Lab Polonator This Week, Presenting Instrument at AGBT

Next-Gen Users Move to "Real" Projects At AGBT as New Systems Make Debut

Illumina, ABI Testing How Their Next-Gen Tools Can Sequence a Human Genome

Former Solexa CEO John West On the Future of Next-Gen Sequencing Platforms

2009

Illumina, ABI Say GAII, SOLiD 3 Will Yield 100-Gb Runs, $10K Human Genome by End of Year

Life Tech to Launch Single-Molecule Sequencer in 2011

PacBio Sequences E. coli Genome, Increases Average Read Length to Nearly 1,000 Bases

Complete Genomics Shows First Human Sequence Data, Plans to Decode Five Genomes for Broad Institute

454 Targets Longer Reads, Better De Novo Assembly; Cites Clinical Apps of Amplicon Sequencing

Q&A: Wash U's Elaine Mardis on Testing New Sequencing Tech for a Large Genome Center

LaserGen Says Its New Reversible Terminators Could Improve Several Sequencing Platforms

2010

Ion Torrent Systems Presents $50,000 Electronic Sequencer at AGBT

Life Tech Details Real-Time Single-Molecule Tech at AGBT; Combines Qdots With FRET-Based Detection

At AGBT, Pacific Biosciences Unveils Commercial Instrument; Shows 10-kb Read, Variety of Applications

2011

At AGBT, Ion Torrent Customers Provide First Feedback; Life Tech Outlines Platform's Growth

PacBio Outlines Expected Commercial Performance for RS at AGBT as Users Talk About their Experience

At AGBT, Sequencing Centers Provide Updates on Capacity, Projects

Illumina Details HiSeq Improvements at AGBT; Early-Access Users Weigh in

2012

AGBT: Oxford Nanopore to Begin Selling Two Low-Cost DNA Strand Sequencing Instruments this Year

AGBT: Ion Torrent to Launch 400-Base Reads for PGM this Year; User Reports Exome Sequencing

At AGBT, Illumina Shows Data for HiSeq 2500 "Genome in a Day," Outlines 400-Base PE Reads for MiSeq

2013

At AGBT, Life Tech Updates Proton Roadmap while Users Present Data, Including Comparisons with HiSeq

Oxford Nanopore's Silence Stirs Noise at AGBT; Technical Issues, Arbitration May Be Behind Reticence

At AGBT, Illumina Highlights Moleculo, New Applications for HiSeq and MiSeq, Planned Improvements

Qiagen Introduces Sequencing Workflow, Including NGS System and Library-Prep Instrument, at AGBT

At AGBT, FDA Official Says Agency Will Regulate NGS-Based Tests, Stressing 'Nothing is Finalized'

2014

At AGBT, GenapSys Entices Audience with Lunchbox-Sized Electronic Sequencer; Leaves Open Questions

AGBT: Illumina, Broad Institute Show Performance Data for NextSeq 500, HiSeq X Ten

AGBT: Life Tech Updates on PII Chip; Customers Present Early Data from Ion Chef, Hi-Q Chemistry

At AGBT, PacBio Shows Platform Utility in RNA-seq Studies, Human Sequencing

Nabsys to Commercialize Electronic DNA Mapping Platform in 2014; Shows Data at AGBT

2015

At AGBT, 10X Genomics Launches GemCode Platform; Shipments Slated for Q2 as Firm Battles IP Lawsuits

MinIon Early-Access Users Evaluate Platform's Performance, Explore Various Applications

At AGBT, Illumina Provides Details, Initial Data on NeoPrep

AGBT: WashU Applies Genomic Testing to Predict Cancer Relapse, Drug Response, Vaccine Epitopes

Thermo Fisher Scientific's Ion Torrent Provides Technical Updates, Previews New Products

2016

NanoString Shares First Details of New Sequencing Chemistry at AGBT

At AGBT, Illumina Provides Additional Details on Project Firefly

At AGBT, 10X Genomics Presents Early Data, New Applications for Chromium System

At AGBT, Researchers Describe Using Long Reads for Clinical Applications

2017

Bionano Genomics Launches Higher-Throughput, Faster Genome Mapping Instrument

NanoString Demos Sequencing Technology at AGBT With Sights Set on 2019 Launch

2018

Twist Bioscience Enters NGS Market With Launch of Target Enrichment Products

At AGBT, Researchers Discuss Direct RNA Sequencing, Pursuit of Ever-Longer Reads on MinIon

Q&A: Elaine Mardis and Rick Wilson on the First Cancer Genome and the Dawn of Clinical Genomics

10x Genomics Previews New Single-Cell Assays at AGBT

Early-Access Customers Report on NanoString's Sequencing and Digital Spatial Profiling Technologies

2019

MGI Prepares to Sell Sequencers in North America, Europe; Announces Proprietary Sequencing Chemistry

At AGBT, Genapsys Discusses Early-Access Customer Data for New Sequencer

Spatial Genomics a Hot Topic at AGBT as 10x Genomics, NanoString Prepare to Launch Products

2020

10x Genomics Unveils 2020 New Product Pipeline at AGBT

ReadCoor Launches Spatial Multiomics Platform at AGBT

MGI Unveils 'Extreme Throughput' Sequencing Platform at AGBT to Enable $100 Human Genome

As MGI Preps US Launch of Sequencers, Customers From Europe and Canada Report Initial Results

2021

Spatial Omics Firms Use AGBT as Launchpad for New Tech

At AGBT, Two Labs Share SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance Experience

2022

New Sequencing Companies Raise Hopes, Eyebrows at AGBT

AGBT Showcases Diversity of Spatial Genomics Technologies

Olink Working With Singular Genomics, Element, Ultima on NGS-Based Proteomics Assays

2023

Genomics Researchers Embrace Proteins at AGBT

Complete Genomics Unveils New Platform for Ultra-High-Throughput Sequencing Market

AGBT: Illumina Offers First Look Under the Hood for Complete Long Reads Product

AGBT: Pacific Biosciences Offers More Info on Onso Short-Read Sequencer Performance, Pricing

AGBT: NanoString, 10x Genomics Plan High-Resolution Spatial Assays to Detect Thousands of RNAs

2024

Ultima Genomics Says UG 100 Sequencer Ready for Prime Time in High-Throughput Applications

Singular Genomics, Element Biosciences Enter Multiomics Fray with New Chemistries, Hardware

New Chip for 10x Chromium X Promises Lower Cost, Higher Throughput for Single-Cell Studies

Complete Genomics Launches CoolMPS-Based DNBseq-G800 Sequencer