Towards the $1,000 Genome: "Hot Topic" Added to TIGR Genome Conference
Meeting Kicks Off With Keynote Lecture By Barry Bloom, Dean of Harvard's School of Public Health, Followed by Panel Discussion On New Sequencing Technologies
September 23, 2002
Rockville, MD - September 23, 2002 -- The potential for new genome sequencing technologies will be the focus of a newly added "hot topic" panel discussion - "The Future of Sequencing: Advancing Towards the $1,000 Genome" - that will be part of the opening plenary session of the 14th International Genome Sequencing and Analysis Conference (GSAC 14), to be held in Boston from October 2-5, 2002.
The panel will explore new DNA sequencing technologies that have the potential to change the face of genomics over the next few years. The discussion will be part of the first GSAC 14 plenary session on Wednesday evening, October 2.
The conference session opens with a keynote speech by Barry Bloom, Ph.D., dean of the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health, on the "Economic and Political Impact of Infectious Diseases," which are of major importance around the world.
The "$1,000 Genome" session will be moderated by the conference co-chairmen: J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., founder of TIGR as well as the new not-for-profit research institutes, The Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG) and the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives (IBEA); and Gerald M. Rubin, Ph.D., vice president and director of planning for the Janelia Farm Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, in Chevy Chase, MD.
"Genomics has advanced rapidly over the past decade and is now playing a major role in scientific and medical research," said Venter. "However, in order for genomics to revolutionize everyone's life we need to make advances in sequencing technology so that the work can be done rapidly and cost-effectively. This new panel session at GSAC will bring together developers of new sequencing technologies to discuss what their technologies have to offer and the likely time line for getting them on line."
Participants in the new panel discussion will include: George M. Church, Ph.D., professor of genetics at Harvard University Medical School and director of the Lipper Center for Computational Genetics; Eugene Chen, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer, US Genomics Corp.; Tony Smith, Ph.D., chief technology officer, Solexa; Trevor Hawkins, Ph.D., senior vice president, Amersham Biosciences Corp.; Susan Hardin, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of VisiGen Biotechnologies Inc.; Michael P. Weiner, Ph.D., vice president of molecular sciences, 454 Corporation; and Daniel H. Densham, managing director of Mobious Genomics, Ltd.
GSAC, organized by The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) - one of the world's leading centers for genomic science -- attracts leading researchers to discuss current research and developments in the field of genomics. This year's conference will take place at the Hynes Conference Center in downtown Boston.
GSAC 14's plenary and concurrent sessions will highlight hot topics such as RNA interference, advances in genomes of multicellular and single cell organisms, microarray data analysis, evolution of genomes and genome structures. Throughout the three-day conference, scientific posters as well as electronic posters will be displayed and the authors will be available to discuss their research. Companies also will be represented to display their latest products and innovations.
For more information on GSAC 14, please check the conference website at http://www.tigr.org/conf/gsac or contact TIGR's Conference Department at (301) 610-5959.