Lloyd M. Smith joined Lee Hood?s CalTech laboratory in 1982 with the idea that he would finally get to do ?real biology.? Having come from a chemistry background, people suggested that he learn DNA sequencing to get a handle on molecular biology. ?Although it was really interesting to learn because there were so many new techniques that one had to master ? it turns out once you get those techniques down it was a pretty laborious, repetitive process,? Smith says. Handling huge sequencing gels in the wee hours of the morning indicated a need for automation.
Hood asked him to evaluate a project initiated by a former lab member, Henry Huang, who was looking to automate sequencing using the ultraviolet absorption of DNA. ?I pulled the plug on that project when I did a few calculations that convinced me it wasn?t going to work?. It just wasn?t sensitive enough.? But ...
