Balasubramanian, Klenerman and Mayer awarded 2026 Wolf Prize in Chemistry
Technology
Shankar Balasubramanian, who has roots in India, just won the 2026 Wolf Prize in Chemistry with David Klenerman and Pascal Mayer.
Their work made DNA sequencing way faster and more affordable, which is a huge deal for cancer research, genetic disease diagnosis, and understanding how our genes work.
Balasubramanian and Klenerman invented Solexa sequencing
Balasubramanian and Klenerman invented Solexa sequencing, a method that reads millions of DNA pieces at once using fluorescent tags.
This technology started from their the late 1990s research, led to the founding of Solexa in 1998, and was later picked up by Illumina so labs worldwide could use it.
Mayer helped make the process even smoother and more accessible, opening doors for precision medicine.