Helicos BioSciences Corporation (Helicos) is a life sciences company focused on genetic analysis technologies for the research, drug discovery and clinical diagnostics markets. Helicos has developed a technology, called the True Single Molecule Sequencing (tSMS) technology, to facilitate the rapid analysis of large quantities of genetic material by directly sequencing single molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or single DNA copies of ribonucleic acid (RNA). The Company's Helicos Genetic Analysis Platform obtains sequencing information by repetitively performing a cycle of biochemical reactions on individual DNA molecules and imaging the results after each cycle. It consists of an instrument called the HeliScope Single Molecule Sequencer, an image analysis computer tower called the HeliScope Analysis Engine, associated reagents, which are chemicals used in the sequencing process, and disposable supplies.