ZS Genetics will compete for genomics prize

ZS Genetics Inc. of North Reading today became the seventh team accepted into the Archon X Prize for Genomics competition.

The competition will pay out $10 million to the first team that successfully sequences 100 human genomes within 10 days for less than $10,000 per genome; the task is considered a stepping stone to a breakthrough in personalized medicine.

"Expanding the field of competitors not only increases the chances of a winner, but increases the support and public awareness towards the quest of rapid and cost-effective whole human genome sequencing," said Marc Hodosh (right), the Brookline-based senior director for the Archon X Prize for Genomics.

ZS Genetics, led by engineer and inventor William Glover, is a five-year-old company developing technology that creates detailed images of individual DNA or RNA molecules using modified transmission electron microscopes and atomic labeling.

Its team for the X Prize competition will consiste of professors, biologists, engineers, and business people.
(By Robert Weisman, Globe staff)