Using Big Data To Unlock Genetic Secrets Scientists Are On A Path To Sequencing 1 Million Human Genomes
The first draft of the human genome was published 20 years ago in 2001, took nearly three years and cost between US$500 million and $1 billion.
A complete human genome, seen here in pairs of chromosomes, offers a wealth of information, but it is hard connect genetics to traits or disease. HYanWong/Wikimedia Comons
The Human Genome Project has allowed scientists to read, almost end to end, the 3 billion pairs of DNA bases – or “letters” – that biologically define a human being.
That project has allowed a new generation of researchers like me, currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute, to identify novel targets for cancer treatments, engineer mice with human immune systems and even build a webpage where anyone can navigate the entire human genome with the same ease w...