The Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard laid off 24 of its MIT employees last week, citing an upgrade to next-generation, high-throughput, genome sequencing technologies that made those jobs obsolete.

"It's purely related to changes in technology," Nicole Davis, a Broad Institute spokesperson, told The Scientist, and not a result of a dwindling endowment in the weakened economy.

The Broad, which was founded in 2003 with a $100 million gift by Eli and Edythe Broad (who have since donated $500 million more), wrote in a statement that "this move is unrelated to the recent widespread economic problems: It is entirely a reflection of the changes in DNA sequencing technologies, which require us to invest our sequencing resources in different ways."

The action mirrors a similar round of cuts at the J. Craig Venter Institute, in Rockville, Maryland, which eliminated 29 sequencing staff jobs in December after consolidating its sequencing centers. Similarly, founder and president J. Craig Venter said in a statement that the layoffs were the "direct result of a technology shift and not a reflection of the tough economic times."


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