Life Technologies and BGI partner to offer whole human genome resequencing on SOLiD™ 4 System

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) and BGI (formerly Beijing Genomics Institute) announced today that they have partnered to offer whole human genome resequencing on the SOLiD™ 4 System. BGI, one of the world's largest genomic centers, has acquired 27 SOLiD 4 Systems, which will allow BGI to deliver 50 whole human genome sequences a month.

“BGI's capability will provide researchers across the globe access to the highest quality sequencing that our system generates.”

The SOLiD 4 System offers industry-leading throughput, speed, accuracy and flexibility for a wide variety of sequencing studies. The platform's unprecedented accuracy is integral to whole human genome sequencing, such as the study of disease evolution as well as those driven by genetic mutations, such as cancer.

"The accuracy of the SOLiD 4 System helps ensure that scientists conducting genomic medicine studies can unearth those hard-to-find mutations that may drive specific diseases," said Mark Gardner, Head of product management for the Genetic Systems Division of Life Technologies. "BGI's capability will provide researchers across the globe access to the highest quality sequencing that our system generates."

As a world-class research institution, BGI has established its own technical platforms based on large-scale genome sequencing, efficient bioinformatics analyses, and innovative genetic healthcare initiatives. With a focus in research and application in personalized healthcare, agriculture, conservation and bio-energy fields, BGI has made a great contribution to the development of genomics in the world through many distinguished achievements. BGI has research centers in the United States, Europe, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Whole human genome sequencing on the SOLiD 4 System will be available globally for scientific collaboration and sequencing services.

"BGI is changing how researchers accomplish their DNA sequencing, and by adding the SOLiD 4 System to our current sequencing offering, we will be able to deliver the fastest, most accurate and cost efficient whole genome sequencing service," said Li, Jingxiang, Vice President of Genomics Operations for BGI. "We can secure sequence data for a complete whole human genome on 30x coverage that includes 100 gigabases of mapped data at an accuracy of 99.9%. Our partners can rely on the data and information to achieve their research goals."

The SOLiD 4 System is for research use only, and not for use in diagnostic procedures.