Cambridge scientists win international prize for DNA sequencing techniques Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman were awarded the 2020 Millennium Technology Prize. 18 May, 2021 15:00 Two British scientists have won a top prize for DNA sequencing technology they developed as a “happy accident” that has gone on to help identify coronavirus variants. Cambridge University chemists Sir Shankar Balasubramanian and Sir David Klenerman were awarded the 2020 Millennium Technology Prize, by Technology Academy Finland (TAF). The duo co-invented the Solexa-Illumina Next Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS), technology that has enhanced the basic understanding of life, converting biosciences into big science by enabling fast, accurate, low-cost and large-scale genome sequencing.