Life Technologies Release: Ion Semiconductor Sequencing Data Presentations at AGBT Demonstrate More Than >1,000-fold Throughput Scaling in First Two Years on the Market

CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) announced today that three scientists are presenting data at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference showing the Ion PI chip is on the same rapid performance trajectory demonstrated by the first three Ion PGM chips. Since the first Ion chip launched two years ago, semiconductor sequencing output has jumped over 1,000-fold from 10 Mb to more than 10 Gb, and that pace is expected to continue in 2013.

• Dr. Jonathan M. Rothberg, Ion Torrent's Founder and CEO, presented data showing 16 Gb throughput on the Ion Proton Sequencer with readlengths out to 230 base pairs. Dr. Rothberg said he expects the Ion Proton PI Chip to deliver 12 Gb in customers' hands in the second quarter and 16 Gb by mid-year.
• Joseph Boland, Director of Research and Development, Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, US National Cancer Institute, presented data showing his lab had generated greater than 12 Gb of high-quality data per run, out to 200 base pair read length, while sequencing a human exome on the Ion Proton Sequencer.
• Dr. Agnes Viale, manager of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Genomics Core Laboratory, today will present transcriptome data showing her lab generated more than 80 million reads on a single run on the Ion Proton Sequencer.

"Ion semiconductor sequencing technology gets better, faster than any sequencing technology," said Dr. Rothberg, who invented next-generation sequencing nearly a decade ago. "We're seeing the same rapid ramp up in performance on the Ion Proton PI chip that we saw on the three previous Ion PGM chips, and we look forward to continuing that with the Ion PII chip."

About Life Technologies Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company with customers in more than 160 countries using its innovative solutions to solve some of today's most difficult scientific challenges. Quality and innovation are accessible to every lab with its reliable and easy-to-use solutions spanning the biological spectrum, with more than 50,000 products for agricultural biotechnology, translational research, molecular medicine and diagnostics, stem cell-based therapies, forensics, food safety and animal health. Its systems, reagents and consumables represent some of the most cited brands in scientific research including: Ion Torrent, Applied Biosystems®, Invitrogen, Gibco®, Ambion®, Molecular Probes® and Novex®. Life Technologies employs approximately 10,400 people and upholds its ongoing commitment to innovation with more than 4,000 patents and exclusive licenses. LIFE had sales of $3.8 billion in 2012. Visit us at our website: http://www.lifetechnologies.com.

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Life Technologies Contact
Wes Conard
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SOURCE Life Technologies