Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2017 - 19

computer. "One analogy is Google camera cars. They take
pictures, collect data, build digital models of the world
in the Google cloud. Your phone consults that model to
provide you with customized real-world directions," Dickinson explained. "Similarly, by storing DNA data in the
cloud, we are providing physicians with digital models, or
maps, of the human genome that enable them to give you
customized medical advice."
"At its core, DNA in every cell we have is a digital medium.
You can digitize it and end up with a string of zeros and
ones. The human body is analog-this living, breathing
thing-but the actual program that builds it is digital. I
would argue that the DNA is a program that builds a human being, and the mother is the 'computer' that runs that
program to 'build' a baby," he added.
He cited a projection by J.P. Morgan that by 2020, the sequencing business is likely to grow by $20 billion. Illumina
generates 90 percent of all DNA sequencing, he explained.
"Illumina sits at the center of the sequencing ecosystem,
surrounded by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, where
they process the massive amounts of data coming out of
the sequencers. Around them in turn sit the sequencing

opment partnerships with ASAP global members
Novartis and Astellas. The agreement "allows
us to move forward with the opportunity to offer
more than just research use only assays here in
the US; it allows us to provide laboratories with
internationally standardized, FDA-approved and
-cleared kits that will be of huge benefit to patients and to the field of personalized molecular
diagnostics and precision medicine," said Jeffrey
Miller, founder, CSO, and CEO of Invivoscribe.
ASAP global member IBM and the Munich
Leukemia Laboratory (MLL) aim to develop
with Illumina a new cognitive technique prototype
for personalized leukemia and lymphoma treatments. Watson will interpret sequence samples

application startups like 23andMe, bringing new products
to customers."
Multi-party, multi-industry collaborations are an essential
part of the proliferation of DNA sequencing applications,
he said, citing several examples. "There have been two
spinouts out of Illumina that I worked on. GRAIL is one.
It's an ideal example of an IT and life science alliance," he
noted, referring to the collaboration headed by ex-Google executive Jeff Huber, and funded by a consortium that
includes Jeff Bezos from Amazon and Bill Gates from Microsoft.
"Google is interesting. The Google guys, Page and Brin,
have an interest in genetic health. They spun out Calico,
with its focus on how to extend life and Verily to improve
diagnostics. Those guys are getting into their 40s, and so
maybe they're starting to think about their own mortality,"
he said with a chuckle, as the room filled with laughter.
"Helix is another example of an Illumina spinoff," he said,
while asking the audience if they have done 23andMe genetic testing. "23andMe is not sequencing, it's genotyping
and the idea of Helix is to bring sequencing's much richer
data to consumers. Helix's challenge is working out how

from the MLL biobank. The collaboration's goal is
to improve clinician information for leukemia care
by analyzing genomic and phenotype data, study
results, guidelines, and associated literature.
A unique collaboration with China's Institute of
Medicinal Plant Development (IMPLAD) will
create a genomic reference catalog for medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine by
sequencing DNA samples from about 500 medicinal plants. Chloroplast genomes will then be
assembled and annotated with help from Illumina.
The work may continue, depending on the results,
to sequence an additional 500 medicinal plants to
complete the IMPLAD One Thousand Medicinal
Plant Genome initiative.

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Q2 * 2017 | STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2017