Life Tech: Demand for DNA Sequencing Speed = Jobs

Ever heard of Life Technologies? They had $3.6 billion in sales last year and closed 2010 with solid growth. We see jobs, over 900 of them are listed here.

Life Technologies created the first PC-like console to sequence DNA. This machine, called the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) launched in December, and appears to be the “iPad” of life sciences R & D—it may be a game changer.

Why? Speed. Life Technologies recently announced that the new version of the PGM will be 100 times faster by the third quarter—which means the DNA sequencer will be able to sequence 1 billion lines of code in two hours. Forbes reports that Life Technologies is optimistic that warp speed improvement will continue. Ion Torrent Founder Jonathan Rothberg forecasts they’ll be able to increase the speed of sequencing for the PGM 10-fold every six months.

Will a waiting line of Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical R & D buyers make national headlines like the iPad did? Probably not. But you may want to take a close look at their hiring needs and job openings: They currently have job listings ranging from engineering and accounting to sales and project management. The lion’s share of the jobs are listed in California.