BGI Plans to Launch Two NGS Systems Based on Complete Genomics Technology
Publish Date: 2015-01-15
On January 14, 2015, Jun Wang, Director of BGI, announced new progresses of BGI in 2015 on the 33rd JP Morgan Healthcare conference.
NGS Systems
BGI is planning to launch two next-generation sequencing systems this year based on Complete Genomics' technology. One platform would be a large-scale platform with the accuracy "more than you can imagine" and is designed for accomplishing the million genomes project. The other system would be a desktop instrument with automated sample prep. Cliff Reid, CEO of Complete Genomics, would disclose more details in the second quarter.
In the first quarter, BGI plans to launch a consumer-friendly version of Genome Voyager, a personalized whole-genome viewer for research purposes only.
Clinical Testing
BGI offers a range of clinical tests, including NIFTY, carrier screening and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). NIFTY has been offered more than 500,000 tests globally. BGI has also performed NGS-based carrier screening on more than 1,000 samples, as well as single-cell PGD. It plans to develop fetal cell genetic diagnostics.
Cancer Panel
BGI has developed a panel called TumorCare to guide treatment decisions. The panel targets more than 500 genes. It has been testing the sequencing of circulating tumor DNA. A study to test the feasibility of population-scale sequencing of cell-free DNA in healthy people for early cancer detection is in progress.
Million Omics Database Project
BGI plans to initiate the Million Omics Database project, which would include all 'omics data from one million people, including genomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic, metabolomic, and microbiome data.