Complete Genomics will sequence DNA from 500 tumor-normal pairs of childhood cancer cases as part of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) study designed to accelerate pediatric therapies. The Mountain View, California–based company, working for the NCI's contractor SAIC-Frederick of Frederick, Maryland, will provide whole genome sequences to uncover somatic mutations associated with specific tumor types. The initial focus is on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma and Wilm's tumor. Complete Genomics will receive $8 million to undertake the work, part of the NCI's TARGET (therapeutically applicable research to generate effective treatments) initiative, funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. The biotech will deposit the information in a database as a resource for NCI researchers. “Though the biological relevance of these mutations will be hard to establish, they represent a new unexplored frontier,” says Complete Genomics spokeswoman Jennifer Turcotte. Drug discovery efforts have largely avoided the pediatric space because of small sample sizes, varying pharmacokinetics and issues around informed consent. However, a spokesman for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D, of Raritan, New Jersey, points out that translating sequencing information into therapeutics will require “a lot of time and resources”. Complete Genomics will also be sequencing 1,000 genomes of healthy elderly people between the ages of 80 and 108 to gather insights into the genetic variants that favor longevity, this time at their own expense.