Helicos BioSciences has developed the HeliScope, the first commercial instrument that can directly read the sequence of a single DNA strand, making it the world’s fastest DNA sequencer, the company claims.

The high-­throughput machine, a complex configuration of tubes, lasers, and chemi­cals, contains two plates, each with 25 ­microfluidic channels etched into it. Each channel is capable of holding and sequencing a separate DNA sample.

The HeliScope, introduced earlier this year, is joining an intense race for faster and cheaper sequencing technologies. The price of sequencing a human genome has dropped in recent years, from the $300 million the Human Genome Project spent on its first draft to less than $100,000. The applications of cheap sequencing are almost limitless, from disease diagnostics to research that could yield microbes engineered to produce biofuels or medicines.