Cheap Genome
The first complete human genome cost $500,000,000 to decipher in 2003.
The seventh complete human genome cost $50,000.
The difference? The first one used 1975 technology and lots of time (Wade). The second one used current technology (the Heliscope Single Molecule Sequencer).
Within five years, a complete genome will probably cost $1,000. When it hits that number, genome sequencing will hit the main stream. Revenues from sequencing will sky-rocket.
This is disruptive technology at its best. It's cheaper, simpler, faster, unique, and, most of all, hopefully, useful.
There are problems with the technology. It is not clear how useful knowing your genome will be at curing diseases. Diseases that were hoped to have simple genomic identifiers turn out to have more variables than expected. So, ultimate applications and usefulness will likely lag the availability of a decoded genome. Eventually, however, genomes are going to be very useful. We'll all want one.
Nicely disruptive.
Mixner, Jack. Disruptive Strategy: Small Companies Have the Edge. 23 September 2008. http://mixnerstrategy.com/blog/2008/09/disruptive_technology_smaller.html
Wade, Nicholas. Cost of Decoding a Genome Is Lowered. New York Times. 10 August 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/science/11gene.html?_r=1&hp