cost of DNA sequencing

A couple of years ago, I answered a reader's question about the cost of genome sequencing. One of my readers had asked why the cost of sequencing a human genome was so high. At that time, I used some of the prices advertised by core labs on the web and the reported coverage to estimate the cost of sequencing Craig Venter's genome. As you can imagine, the cost of sequencing has dropped quite a bit since then. In 2007, Genome Technology reported the cost of sequencing Venter's genome was $70 million. Watson's genome at only $2 million, was a bargain. Why was Watson's genome so cheap? Even…