In 2004, the X Prize Foundation awarded $10 million to Burt Rutan and the SpaceShipOne team, launching the era of private manned space travel. Based on the spectacular success of that prize competition, the nonprofit organization is back with another innovation challenge, this time hoping to spur a breakthrough in the decoding of human DNA. In Friday’s Wall Street Journal, Antonio Regalado provides an update on the X Prize Foundation’s latest multi-million-dollar innovation prize:

“The Santa Monica, Calif., foundation plans to offer a $5 million to $20 million prize to the first team that completely decodes the DNA of 100 or more people in a matter of weeks, according to foundation officials and others involved. Such speedy gene sequencing would represent a technology breakthrough for medical research. It could launch an era of “personal” genomics in which ordinary people can learn their complete DNA code for less than the cost of a wide-screen television. Details of the award are being worked out, and officials say they don’t expect anyone to claim the prize for at least five to 10 years. The award will be the centerpiece of an ambitious effort by the X Prize Foundation to become “a global brand that establishes people as geniuses and innovators,” says its chief executive and founder Peter Diamandis, a medical doctor and former aerospace entrepreneur.”

More on the X Prize Foundation:

X Prize Foundation encourages DNA decoding [Slashdot]

X Prize Foundation diversifies into biotech [The Methuselah Foundation]
The next X Prizes [LiveScience.com]
Fuel for thought [Fast Company]

Technorati tags: innovation Xprize

[image: “DNA of cats,” via Flickr]