# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussions

• Participants discussed bioinformatics companies including Counsyl (genetic testing with $2.2M funding), Halcyon Molecular (DNA sequencing), and Pacific Biosciences, noting concerns about PacBio's DNA sequencing accuracy dropping to 80% despite claims of 99+%.

• A debate emerged about longevity research strategies, with some advocating for Halcyon's electron microscopy sequencing technology (promising read lengths of hundreds of thousands of base pairs) as a commercially viable approach that could fund further research.

• Critics questioned whether the "sequence everything and data mine" approach constitutes a legitimate longevity strategy, highlighting the tension between commercial viability and scientific progress in the field.

• The conversation revealed the evolution of bioinformatics tools through the proliferation of BLAST variants (pblast, blastn, blastp, blastx, tblastn, tblastx, blast2, psi-blast, wublast, gpublast) for sequence alignment.

• Participants criticized the startup ecosystem for overemphasizing web technologies rather than addressing "real" problems, arguing for greater investment in hardware and biotechnology ventures.

• Some users discussed cross-disciplinary expertise in biotechnology, citing figures like Eric Schadt with backgrounds in applied mathematics and biomathematics as examples of valuable interdisciplinary approaches.

• A technical discussion covered music creation methods, including one participant's work on a custom MIDI sequencer for metal music using analog electronics and homemade effects pedals as an alternative to Digital Audio Workstations.