On August 17th, 2010, Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE), a provider of innovative life science solutions, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ion Torrent for $375 million in cash and stock and an additional $350 million upon the meeting time-based milestones through 2012. Ion Torrent has been building the next generation of fully-electronic and CMOS-based DNA sequencing platforms, a technology which was co-invented by Professor Arjang Hassibi while at Stanford University (US Patent 7,223,540), now an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Austin.

This technology has revolutionized DNA sequencing by enabling electronic sequence-by-synthesis analysis through the use of IC technology. Ion Torrent's proprietary CMOS-based method has created a new paradigm in DNA sequencing by using PostLight(TM) sequencing technology, the first of its kind to eliminate the cost and complexity associated with the extended optical detection currently used in all other DNA sequencers.

This is not the first attempt to commercialize Professor Hassibi's invention. In 2001 he co-founded Xagros Genomics, Inc. to commercialize CMOS-based sequencers, but the startup was unable to overcome some of the technical challenges, something that Ion Torrent was able to address this time.

For more information on Ion Torrent, go to:
http://www.lifetechnologies.com/us/en/home/brands/ion-torrent.html

For more information on Professor Hassibi's research, go to:
http://www.cerc.utexas.edu/~arjang/