'Watching' the building blocks of genes at Cambridge

Spearheading DNA sequecing technology to unravel the genetic code

Solexa, a biotechnology spin-out from the University of Cambridge, evolved from a collaboration between researchers working in very different areas of chemistry.

Inspired by breakthrough ‘molecule watching’ technology first described in 1994, Professor Shankar Balasubramanian and Professor David Klenerman decided to develop a joint research effort focused on DNA sequencing. They realised that, by combining their expertise in nucleic acids (the ‘building blocks’ of DNA) and in molecular imaging, the potential was there to revolutionise DNA sequencing technology.

In 2007, 13 years after the research began, Solexa was sold to bioscience company Ilumina for $600m. The technology has been used to sequence an entire human genome in just weeks. Understanding the human genome will be a vital tool in learning about how differences in people’s DNA can cause disease: as well as generating significant revenue for the University of Cambridge, the technology could help scientists to understand and eventually to treat a huge number of illnesses