Ion Torrent Systems, Inc. Announces Ion Personal Genome Machine Sequencer Grant

GUILFORD, Conn. and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Ion Torrent(TM) today announced that it will award two Ion Personal Genome Machine (PGM(TM)) sequencers in April 2010 through a grant program designed to help make DNA sequencing accessible to all scientists.

"Ion Torrent technology enables scientists to do experiments they never thought were possible, and that freedom will foster innovation and drive breakthroughs in research," said Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, founder and CEO of Ion Torrent. "We look forward to working with scientists around the world to create applications that will transform healthcare."

True semiconductor sequencing

The Ion PGM sequencer, which will be launched in 2010, uses a new sequencing technology that brings the transformative power of the semiconductor to the life sciences. Ion Torrent technology directly translates chemically encoded information (A, C, G, T) into digital information (0, 1) on a semiconductor chip.

Grants Honor Gordon Moore and James D. Watson

The first award will be announced on April 19th, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the 1965 publication of Dr. Moore's landmark paper in Electronics Magazine, which proposed what is now known as Moore's Law. The second grant will be announced on April 25th, to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the 1953 publication of Dr. Watson and Dr. Francis Crick's paper in Nature on the double helix structure of DNA.

About Ion Torrent

Ion Torrent has developed a DNA sequencing system that directly translates chemical signals (A, C, G, T) into digital information (0, 1) on a semiconductor chip. The result is a sequencing system that is simpler, faster, more cost effective and scalable than any other technology available. Because Ion Torrent produces its proprietary semiconductor chips in standard CMOS factories, we leverage the $1 trillion dollar investment that has been made in the semiconductor industry over the past 40 years. This enables us to directly benefit from four decades of exponential improvement in semiconductor technology, usually expressed as Moore's Law.

CONTACT: Wes Conard, Director, Corporate Communications of Ion Torrent,
+1-415-241-0510, ext. 204, or cell, +1-415-385-4455, wconard@iontorrent.com

Web site: http://www.iontorrent.com/