The Ledger · Entry 09
Reading a human genome went from tens of millions of dollars to a few hundred
Cost to sequence one full human genome, in current US dollars
When the first draft of the human genome was finished, reading a single person's DNA end to end cost tens of millions of dollars and took a small industry to do. It was a feat of the age, not a routine test.
The key rows
Then a new generation of sequencing machines arrived and the price fell off a cliff, faster than computing chips were getting cheaper over the same years. What once cost a fortune now costs about as much as a phone.
Asked often
How much did it cost to sequence the first human genome?
In 2001 the NHGRI-tracked cost to sequence a full human-sized genome was $95,263,070. By 2022 that had fallen to $525.
Is the DNA sequencing cost adjusted for inflation?
No. The NHGRI figures are in current dollars and are not adjusted for inflation, so the real-terms fall is even larger than the raw numbers show.
Why did sequencing costs fall so fast?
The arrival of next-generation, massively parallel sequencing around 2007 and 2008 broke the cost curve, driving the price down faster than computing chips were falling in price over the same period.
The world also got better today.
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