P.C. Shannon

Recently, Dr. James Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, has his complete genome sequenced. He is the first person to have his genome completely sequenced, although Dr. J. Craig Venter, scientific iconoclast, was not far behind. The real breakthrough is not that it was done, but that it was done in two months at a cost of about $1 million. Compare that to the Human Genome project, which took 13 years and $3 billion. This massive increase in efficiency is due, in part, to the sequencing developed by companies like 454 Life Sciences. Within a few years, the cost to sequence a complete genome will fall to $100,000, and it will continue to fall by an order of magnitude every few years, so that a complete genome will cost $1000 within a decade. This price point is a huge leap towards a new era of “personalized medicine,” but there are larger ramifications as well.

(more…)