In the Genes

Human genome sequencing has long been both time-consuming and expensive. American biotech company Illumina has announced a machine, the NovaSeq X series, which will slash the cost to just $200 per human genome and will work at twice the speed, providing up to 20,000 genomes per year.

Combined with the also relatively cheap gene-editing technology CRISPR, could this be another step closer to the development of new, more climate-resilient species of produce? Even if we don’t engage in genetic editing, could it make selective breeding easier?