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By Helen Briggs BBC News
A race to unlock genetic clues behind living to 100 is set to begin next year,
after a US team announced it will compete for the $10m Genomics X Prize.
Genetic entrepreneur Dr Jonathan Rothberg is entering the challenge to identify
genes linked to a long, healthy life.
His team - and any other contenders - will be given 30 days to work out the
full DNA code of 100 centenarians at a cost of no more than $1,000 per genome.
The race will start in September 2013.
Under the rules of the Archon Genomics X Prize, teams have until next May to
register for the competition.
Dr Rothberg's team from Life Technologies Corporation in California is the
first to formally enter the race.
Dr Jonathan Rothberg
Pioneer of DNA sequencing
His latest business venture, Ion Torrent, makes the Personal Genome Machine and
the Ion Proton sequencer
Rothberg claims his machines can sequence DNA more quickly and cheaply than
ever thought possible
The Ion Proton sequencer will be used for the challenge
Being able to sequence the full human genome at a cost of $1,000 or less is
regarded as a milestone in science.
It is seen as the threshold at which DNA sequencing technology becomes cheap
enough to be used widely in medicine, helping in diagnosis and in matching
drugs to a patient's genetic make-up.
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If they can do a human genome in two hours with one little machine, it's just
stunning. We have come a long way.
Dr Craig Venter Genetic entrepreneur
One hundred people aged 100 have donated their DNA for the project.
Scientists believe people who reach a very old age may have certain rare
changes in their genes which protect against common diseases of later life,
such as heart disease and cancer.
If these genes can be identified by analysing the DNA codes of centenarians, it
will help scientists search for new medical treatments and perhaps ways to
prolong life.
However, many sample DNA sequences will be needed in order to get the accuracy
needed to pinpoint changes on the scale of a few genetic letters among the
three billion in the human genome.
Dr Craig Venter
One of the scientists behind the effort to decode the first human genome
sequence
Venter and his team built the genome of a bacterium from scratch and put it
into a cell to make a synthetic life form
He has had his own DNA sequence decoded
Dr Jonathan Rothberg, a geneticist and entrepreneur, said the DNA of 100
centenarians is a good start towards finding "the fountains of youth".
He told BBC News: "One hundred people will give you a hint. One thousand will
make you reasonably sure. Ten thousand will let you say, 'Hey, these are the
genes involved in cancer or heart disease'".
Dr Craig Venter is the originator of the prize and one of the main players in
the race to sequence the first human genome, which was completed in 2003.
He said he could never have imagined that genome sequencing would come this far
in so little time.
He told the BBC: "I can't emphasise [enough] how impressed I am with the
progress of technology and the dropping of the cost.
"If they can do a human genome in two hours with one little machine, it's just
stunning. We have come a long way."
The X Prize Foundation offers awards for solutions to modern scientific
challenges, from space to the human genome.
Any data gleaned from the X Prize will be shared with other scientists in the
field, to aid the quest for insights into ageing.