GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

From: Jørgen K. Kanters <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Outsource genome sequencing to China?..
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2011 10:12:41 +0100
References: <CAFF6iwOT9nrXQXogY5+HzvJ4s2SOPc=0OLPGKjrTy+ZJoR7n=w@mail.gmail.com><B74EA44864BC49F5B54D52CC038AA9CE@JohnPC>
In-Reply-To: <B74EA44864BC49F5B54D52CC038AA9CE@JohnPC>

Dont forget that it also cost money to run these machines, primers and
reagents so it is not only machines and wages.

If you run bulk full genome screening, at the moment you can get a full
exome screening around $1500, and prices are always going down

Jorgen

2011/11/30 Alister John Marsh <>

> Jim,
>
> Interesting. If BGI can sequence the equivalent of 2000 genomes per day on
> 167 sequencing machines, that is around 12 genomes per day per machine. If
> they run 24 hours a day, that is one genome every 2 hours per machine. In
> total BGI have about 22 staff members per machine, so in total that is
> about
> 2 staff days per genome. What is the average daily wage in China?
>
> I don't know what BGI charge for a full genome, but if others charge
> $4,000+
> or there abouts per genome, then each machine would return about $50,000
> gross per day at full capacity, or about $15,000,000 per year if running at
> full capacity for 300 days a year. If a machine cost $1,000,000 each to
> buy, the gross return in a month from one machine would be more than the
> cost of the machine if genomes were charged at $4,000 each.
>
> Do these ball park figures suggest that at some stage a $400 full genome is
> possible? I think we all need to put a tin on the mantelpiece, and put a
> $1
> a day in it. Oh I forgot, mantelpieces are almost obsolete now days. Well
> it doesn't matter where you put your $1 a day in this technological age,
> just put it somewhere safe.
>
> What will we discuss on this list when we hall have our full genomes
> sequenced, and each have about 2000 known Y-SNPs in our line since Adam? I
> guess we could have some interesting things to discover about the groups
> who
> shared common ancestors in the neighbourhood of the year 1066. And
> wouldn't
> it be exciting if one or several of those in the group had clues to the
> origin of their Y line family 900 years ago?
>
> John.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: JimT
> Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2011 10:09 AM
> To:
> Subject: [DNA] Outsource genome sequencing to China?
>
> The Chinese company BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute) has been
> investing heavily in DNA-sequencing equipment. According to their
> spokesperson, "At full capacity, BGI can now sequence the equivalent
> of 2,000 human genomes a day".
>
> There is more about BGI in this article:
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/30/BUJR1M5INJ.DTL
>
> Jim Turner
>
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This thread:

• Re: [DNA] Outsource genome sequencing to China?.. by Jørgen K. Kanters <>