That was the genome then, this is the genome now
Last week, the journal Science launched a series of vignettes from scientists, artists, theologians and more celebrating the 10th anniversary of the decoding of the human genome.
This week, Nature marks the event in different form, publishing a detailed review by biologist Eric Lander that sums up the “Initial Impact of the Sequencing of the Human Genome.”
The piece is an impressive catalog, explaining what we knew about the genome in 2001 (a good bit, with some gaps) and what we know about it now (a whole lot more), what our knowledge of the genome has told us about biology and what the genomics road ahead might look like.
In the 10 years since the genome was published, Lander wrote, technical advances have allowed scientists to catalog complete genomes of hundreds of animals and to make great strides in understanding how genes work in humans to code proteins and regulate cell function. Genomics have helped researchers understand how humans evolved and what genes or gene combinations cause hundreds of diseases.
Genome-wide analysis has allowed greater understanding of the biology of diseases including macular degeneration (which can cause blindness), Crohn’s disease and type 2 diabetes as well as some psychiatric disorders.
Lander, who directs the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, wrote that it could be feasible for the cost of whole-genome sequencing to drop as low as a few hundred dollars within the next decade. That could open up vast possibilities for the study of disease, not to mention personalized medicine.
“Genomics has changed the practice of biology in fundamental ways,” he concluded. “We must now extend these principles to new frontiers.”
If that happens, researchers will no doubt wax poetic about the genome again 10 years from now.
