When compressed relative to a reference genome, you can get a ~2.9Gbp human genome down to ~3.3MiB of data[1]. Sequences are actually pretty compressible in gen

When compressed relative to a reference genome, you can get a ~2.9Gbp human genome down to ~3.3MiB of data[1]. Sequences are actually pretty compressible in general, owing to conservation of functional domains and repeats. Data from next-gen sequencers have many small overlapping segments though, so the raw output takes up MUCH more space. By the way, for anyone looking for more information about some of the methods currently being used for sequencing (Illumina, 454), check out these videos from the WUSTL Genome Center: http://gep.wustl.edu/curriculum/course_materials_WU/introduction_to_genomics/nextgen_video_tour http://gep.wustl.edu/curriculum/course_materials_WU/introduc... They don't cover Ion Torrent, which is unfortunate because it is way cool. gourneau can probably point to a better video, but here are a couple for Ion Torrent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3jPTBU9vF8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3jPTBU9vF8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVf2295JqUg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVf2295JqUg ...and the Nature paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7356/full/nature10242.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7356/full/nature1... 1. http://dhruvbird.com/genome_compression.pdf http://dhruvbird.com/genome_compression.pdf