Life Technologies reveals SOLiD PI gene sequencing platform

Life Technologies has revealed the first details of a new genomic analysis and sequencing platform which will be available later this year.

The science company is to launch the Applied Biosystems SOLiD PI System in the second half of 2010, new technology which is designed to offer accurate results and an intuitive, affordable design.

It has been produced in association with Hitachi and utilises the same ligation-based sequencing technology as the recently announced SOLiD 4 system.

Kip Miller, president of the genetic systems division for Life Technologies, stated that accurate, affordable technology of this kind is vital given the increasing importance of gene sequencing in disease research.

He added that the new device “builds on the superior data quality and accuracy of our SOLiD system chemistry, but delivers it in a more affordable format that will bring the power of next-generation sequencing to every laboratory”.

Last week, the company revealed that its existing SOLiD system has been utilised in recently-published Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center research demonstrating the potential role played by genetic biomarkers in disease prevention.