Intel invests in biotech firm

Intel is leading a group of investors that together will invest $100 million in the biotech firm Pacific Bioscience which is running a DNA sequencing platform development. The single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing platform from Pacific Bioscience is expected to allow for the first time the observation of natural DNA synthesis by a DNA polymerase as it occurs. Pacific Bioscience’s technology is based on the SMRT chip, which permits observation of individual fluorophores against a dense background of labelled nucleotides by maintaining a high signal-to-noise ratio, and phospholinked nucleotides. The company describes that through a "fast, accurate and processive" DNA Synthesis a completely natural DNA strand is produced. The project will according to Pacific Bioscience turn out to provide a DNA sequencer by 2010 and by 2013 the sequencer would give the sequencing result after 15 minutes.