Man Bids $68,000 on Ebay to Have His Genome Sequenced
Scientific Americanreports that a man won Knome's genome sequencing auction with a winning bid of $68,000. Knome will announce who the winning bidder is once the payment goes through.
But since then, someone did: The auction closed Monday afternoon, with a single bid at the $68,000 minimum Knome had set.
"We don't know who the [auction's] winner is," says Knome's Ari Kiirikki. "We know it's a male and we know he's from Europe." But as soon as the payment goes through, probably within days, the company will learn his identity, he adds, and the unknown man will join about 20 others who have had their genes sequenced by Knome.
Normally, the service-which includes an analysis by Knome's team of clinicians and geneticists so you can understand whether your genetic profile makes you susceptible to certain diseases, such as cancer or Alzheimer's-costs $99,500. It takes about three months to complete the process, says Kiirikki, Knome's vice president of sales and business development.
Proceeds from the eBay auction will go to the X Prize Foundation, an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. You can still see the auction listing here.
Knome is a service that offers complete genome sequencing for individuals. This is a pricey service that will get cheaper over time as both demand and technology improve. Scientific American points out that a service by 23andme offers a custom genome scan for $399 which can tell you how susceptible you are to certain diseases, such as the dreaded norovirus.
Scientific American 
