CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Helicos BioSciences (Nasdaq:HLCS) today announced significant improvements in the performance of the Helicos™ Genetic Analysis System, available immediately for customers. With these improvements, the system is generating 20 to 30 Gigabases (GB) of high-quality sequence data per run, an output equivalent to the sequencing of 7 to 10 human genomes per run. This new performance point generates high-quality data at a rate of 100 to 150 Megabases (MB) per hour and at a cost of $0.45 to $0.60 per Megabase. These results, demonstrated in the complete and accurate sequencing of the model organism C. elegans, will be presented by Bill Efcavitch, PhD, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) meeting in Marco Island, Florida, from February 4-7, 2009. These data are available on the HeliSphere™ Technology Center (http://open.helicosbio.com), the company’s open access website showcasing single molecule sequence data and open source informatics tools.
