A Foster Park, Calif., firm feels it could be holding the key to speedy completion of the human genome project. Applied Biosystems Inc. is developing a device called a sequencer front end that would take over much of the manually done chemical sequencing reactions that now limit the speed of automated sequencers. The publicly owned company, abiotech equipment maker that recorded $160 million in sales last year, is hoping the new device will be ready by the end of next year, and that it will virtually replace human DNA sequencing technicians. Michael W. Hunkapillar, ABI’s vice president of science and technology, says the new device will also cut sequencing cost by reducing the amount of reagents employed. ABI’s R&D staff numbers about 200.
“COMDEX is a big mirror. Look at COMDEX and see what the industry is doing,” says Dave Kaminer, vice president of the Interface Group, which has produced ...
