Ion Torrent CEO Jonathan Rothberg, Life Technologies Recognized by Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards for the Ion Personal Genome Machine

CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: LIFE) today announced that Jonathan Rothberg, CEO and founder of Ion Torrent, is a runner-up in this year's Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards for the Ion Personal Genome Machine (PGM™), which "promises to sequence DNA more quickly and at a lower cost than other sequencing technologies," the awards committee said.

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This marks the second time Rothberg has been recognized for his groundbreaking innovation and ingenuity by the publication.  He was the Gold winner in the Wall Street Journal's Technology Innovation Awards in 2005 for devising a way to move high-speed gene sequencing to a semiconductor platform and setting the stage for its use in medicine.  An American scientists and entrepreneur, Rothberg has founded three genomics companies, including 454 Life Sciences Corporation and Ion Torrent.

In less than a year since Life Technologies commercially launched the PGM™, the semiconductor-based instrument has become the best-selling, next-generation sequencing machine in the world and is democratizing DNA sequencing.  The PGM™ enabled two independent teams of scientists in Germany and China to quickly decipher the deadly E. coli bacterium that caused more than 50 deaths in Europe this year in just three days – a task that would have taken up to two weeks on traditional instruments.  

Scientists were able to use the data generated by the PGM™ to develop a test to screen food samples in less than a week.  The speed and accuracy with which the sequencing work was performed on the bench top instrument led to worldwide news coverage – including a New York Times article that described the PGM's technology as "a game-changer."

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University where he received his B.S. and Ph.D., respectively, Rothberg's seminal work in sequencing technology is recognized as some of the most pivotal in the last decade. The New England Journal of Medicine described his sequencing innovation as "The New Age of Molecular Diagnostics for Microbial Agents." Science magazine called it one of the top 10 breakthroughs for 2008.

Rothberg is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including: Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (1998); The World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneer (2007, 2008 and 2010); CBA Brilliant Achievement Award (2011); among others.

About Life Technologies (www.lifetechnologies.com)

Life Technologies Corporation is a global biotechnology company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific and medical advancements that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance the fields of discovery and translational research, molecular medicine, stem cell-based therapies, food safety and animal health, and 21st century forensics. The company manufactures both molecular diagnostic and research use only products. Life Technologies' industry-leading brands are found in nearly every life sciences lab in the world and include innovative instrument systems under the Applied Biosystems and Ion Torrent names, as well as, the broadest range of reagents with its Invitrogen, GIBCO, Ambion, Molecular Probes and TaqMan products. Life Technologies had sales of $3.6 billion in 2010, has a workforce of approximately 11,000 people, has a presence in approximately 160 countries, and possesses one of the largest intellectual property estates in the life sciences industry, with approximately 3,900 patents and exclusive licenses. For more information on how we are making a difference, please visit our website: http://www.lifetechnologies.com.

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Life Technologies Contact
Mauricio Minotta
760-929-2456
[email protected]

SOURCE Life Technologies Corporation