Applied Biosystems introduces next generation production level DNA analys...( FOSTER CITY CA - April 23 2002 - App...),Health

FOSTER CITY, CA - April 23, 2002 - Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced the introduction of the Applied Biosystems 3730 DNA Analyzer and the Applied Biosystems 3730xl DNA Analyzer. These next generation production scale systems are expected to improve data quality and increase productivity by a factor of two or more compared to current technology platforms. They bring powerful new tools for rapid, accurate, and cost effective DNA analysis to discovery researchers worldwide studying human and other genomes.

"Research into whole genomes has rapidly accelerated in the last two years, resulting in numerous emerging programs in genetic resequencing and development of haplotype maps for tracing the origins and patterns of disease," said Michael W. Hunkapiller, Ph.D., President of Applied Biosystems. "The 3730 and 3730xl systems are expected to be valuable new tools for researchers to cost-effectively mine new genetic data resulting from sequencing of the human, mouse and other important genomes. These production level systems could further accelerate discovery and significantly expand the sequencing market by making a broader range of sequencing studies affordable - studies previously deemed too expensive."

Sequencing production capacity, automation, and efficiency are critical to expansion of research and production in the world's leading genome research centers. "Reducing the cost of sequencing is the key to the ability to expand both public and private sequencing programs, and to study the large number of genomes believed to have significant potential in advancing the understanding of disease and evolution," said John S. West, Vice President of DNA Platforms for Applied Biosystems. "With the potential cost reductions and production capacity of the 3730 platform, researchers can begin to think about sequencing the additional genomes needed to truly harness the power of comparative genomics for underst
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Contact: Lori Murray
murrayla@appliedbiosystems.com
650-638-6130
Porter Novelli
23-Apr-2002