ELMSFORD, NY (May 1, 2007) - Reveo, Inc. announces its entry in the $10M Archon X PRIZE competition. This prize, which is the largest medical prize in history, will be awarded to the first team that can develop a tool that is able to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days, costing no more than $10,000 per genome with 99.999% accuracy. The X PRIZE Foundation (www.xprize.org), the sponsor of this event, has reviewed the radical invention by Reveo’s founder, Dr. Sadeg M. Faris, and deems it worthy to compete. The foundation announced Reveo as a contestant at the following link:
http://genomics.xprize.org/assets/downloads/Reveo_Enters_Archon_X_PRIZE_for_Genomics_Competition.pdf .
Reveo is honored to be selected by the X PRIZE for this event with their invention to benefit global health.
This concept device, which is called the Omni Molecular Recognizer Application (OmniMoRA), relies on physical methods, rather than indirect chemical methods, to read the DNA sequence directly. Since the OmniMoRA uses principles from semiconductor electronics and photonics it has the potential to achieve the necessary speed, cost and accuracy improvements over existing sequencing instruments that use indirect chemical methods.
Reveo’s proprietary concept uses arrays of nano-knife edge probes to directly and non-destructively read the sequence of three billion pairs of nucleotides that comprise the human genome. As the nano-knife edges are stepped with sub-Angstrom resolution (1/10,000,000,000 of a meter) over a stretched and immobilized single strand DNA, molecular vibrational characteristics are measured and recorded for each of the nucleotides.
“The most challenging technical issue of the OmniMoRA has been the ability to fabricate nano knife edges,” says Faris. “To date, no one has demonstrated a way to fabricate nano-knife edges in published literature. We have explored many viable technologies on how to accomplish this edge geometry and have discovered innovative processes that enables the success of this technology.”
Faris is confident this concept can be developed to accomplish and even surpass the requirements set forth by the X PRIZE Foundation by delivering a sequencing tool with 100% error-free reads and 100% coverage that can read an entire human genome, epigenome and proteome simultaneously in minutes for pennies per genome. He asks “Why not? Why can’t we invent tools that guarantee error-free sequencing in minutes for pennies? Our intent to raise the bar even higher is not to undermine the efforts of the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics committee, and the brilliant works of the sequencing pioneers who brought us here, but rather bring to this competition a disruptive technology capable of achieving this vision.”
This significance of having such a fast, affordable and reliable tool capable of reaching these standards will usher in a new era for personalized medical diagnostic tools to enable physicians a means to discover and treat diseases before they strike. With this type of disruptive technology, it will be possible to map entire genomes of all living beings to gain the fundamental knowledge on environmental and hereditary influences of all diseases and to invent personalized vaccines to eradicate heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc. before they strike.
"We are thrilled that Reveo has thrown its hat into the ring to compete for the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics," said Marc Hodosh, senior director, Archon X PRIZE for Genomics. "Reveo represents a leading edge of the genomics industry and understands that the speed and affordability of sequencing genomes along with the fewest possible errors are keys to reducing the impact of disease and ushering in a new era of personalized medicine."
Reveo, Inc., located in
Reveo, Inc. has received initial seed funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for this tool concept and is currently looking to form strategic partnerships to further the recent success and results. Reveo, Inc. joins teams from VisiGen Biotechnologies, Inc., 454 Life Sciences and the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in the X PRIZE quest to develop a revolutionary sequencing tool for the benefit of global health.
ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. On October 4, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft Co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space twice in two weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The Foundation has since expanded to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in medicine, healthcare, energy production and consumption, education and the automotive industry. In October of 2006, the X PRIZE Foundation announced the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for genomics, which will reward the first private effort to map 100 human genomes in 10 days ushering in a new era of personalized preventative medicine. For more information please visit www.xprize.org or email press@xprize.org.