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As the famous first words of Star Trek suggest, space is often considered the “final frontier” — a vast region beyond our tiny world that is largely unknown and yet to be explored. But for some ӳý scientists, that distinction goes to a decidedly different area: chemical space.

It’s not much bigger than a breadbox, yet it opens up a new way of analyzing the individual “letters” in DNA. Wrapped in a pastel plastic case, powered by silicon chips that are common all over the world, the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine is finally being released commercially.

But this genetic sequencing technology is no stranger to the ӳý. Chad Nusbaum, Niall Lennon, and their colleagues at the ӳý's 320 Charles Street location have been putting three Ion Torrents through their paces for awhile now. I got a chance to watch them kick the tires.

Earlier this week, a team of scientists including ӳý researcher Rameen Beroukhim, also a physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, published from a study of squamous cell lung cancer, a disease linked to smoking. The scientists analyzed samples of lung tumors and discovered a mutation in the gene known as fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) that was more common in samples of squamous cell lung cancer tumors than those of other types of lung cancer.