(Bloomberg) — Sequencing efficiency is racing ahead. Clifford Reid, CEO of Complete Genomics Inc. in Mountain View, Calif., said his capacity will increase 100 times in the coming years.

The next challenge is developing software and gadgets to help put sequencing information to use in hospitals and physician offices. Google’s Google Ventures fund, which invests as much as $200 million annually in startups, has put a “significant” chunk of its money into companies aiming to speed the use of the genome, said Krishna Yeshwant, one of its partners.

Companies such as GenomeQuest, based in Westborough, Mass., Emeryville, Calif.-based Omicia Inc. and Softgenetics in State College, Pa., are making software to search through gene variations and find those that are “actionable,” for doctors trying to diagnose and treat disease. Knome Inc., co-founded by Harvard Medical School geneticist George Church to sequence genomes for the public, has reorganized as a DNA analytics company, and will begin licensing software to hospitals and clinics this year, said Jason Lee, chief marketing officer.

Martin Reese, CEO of Omicia, hired a software developer with experience both at Apple and Wal-Mart Stores to develop a system that would sort huge numbers of genetic variations, select those that were most likely to be associated with disease, and make it easy for users to process the results.

“We’re taking a process, hand annotation of the genome, that can take up to six months to do, and automating it so that it takes just a half hour or an hour,” Reese said.

Like the computer industry 20 years ago, gene-sequencing companies are also aiming to make smaller, friendlier products.

During an interview in his office, Jay Flatley, the CEO of San Diego-based Illumina, waved an Apple iPad loaded with an application that displayed his genome. He skipped from page to page with his fingertips. Patients could take this information with them to a doctor’s appointment, he said, and discuss treatments.

“What people want to know is, what genetic variants do I have that are different for a disease or drug?” he says, quickly paging through screens of diagrams, text and color icons. He stopped on one describing a gene that would affect his response to the blood-thinner warfarin, should he ever take it. “I’m in the high-sensitivity category, so I should get a lower dose.”