Invented by engineer and entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg, such desktop gene machines could transform medicine, agriculture, nanotechnology and the search for alternative fuels.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The PGM uses a semiconductor chip to sequencing DNA, a technology that Ion Torrent founder Jonathan Rothberg says will allow his machine to increase in speed at a rate of 10-fold every six months.

FORBES: Ion Torrent Gives Its DNA-Sequencing Box A Boost

Ion Torrent entered this market in 2010, the brainchild of biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg. (I wrote a Forbes cover story about him in 2011.) Rothberg figured out how to make a DNA sequencer using semiconductor parts that would be significantly cheaper than the machines Illumina sold.

FORBES: What Does This $14 Billion Deal Mean For The Future Of DNA Sequencing?

Perhaps more importantly, this leap would fulfill the promise made by Ion Torrent founder Jonathan Rothberg, who has promised that because his device relies on the same kind of semiconductor factories used to make Xboxes and iPods its performance will be able to improve 10-fold every six months.

FORBES: Life Tech Pushes Speed Of Small, Fast DNA Sequencer