Both the central government and regional authorities are investing to make China the production center of the world for genomic research.
BGI is China’s premier gene-sequencing institute. It was started on the ninth day of September, at nine seconds past the ninth minute in the ninth month in 1999. This was done to promote longevity according to Chinese numerology. In 2006, the institute was lured to Shenzen, as the city advanced its plan to be the “factory of the world.” BGI’s goal is to sequence genomes at twice the speed and half the price of anyone in the world. In January, BGI purchased 128 of the world’s fastest gene-sequencers, called the Hi Seq 2000 by Ilumina. Each Hi Seq 2000 produces 25 billion pairs of sequences a day, or theoretically, 10,000 human genomes in a year. Should this pace continue, BGI’s output could surpass the entire sequencing output of the U.S. (Nature, 3/4/10)
In addition to contract research, BGI is developing its own scientific expertise and now has 220 patents to its name. The Chinese are applying the same volume explosion strategy to science, as they have applied to industrial (e.g., steel, autos, power plants, chemicals, etc.) production. The use of these discoveries will fuel advances for Chinese sunrise industries in the next decade.
Charles Hess
Tags: Genomics
