The Genome and the Economy
18/06/10 13:34 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Submitted by S. Pelech - Kinexus on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 13:34.
The true dividend from the sequencing of the human genome will not come until we can make sense of what all of the expressed proteins and functional RNA oligonucleotides are actually doing. From a commercial standpoint, the genome sequencing projects have driven the development of new and improved sequencing (and microarray) technologies. This is currently driving a genome sequencing frenzy where it seems to be in vogue to sequence the genomes of hundreds of different species and soon thousands of different people. While there is likely to be useful information from such pursuits, to a large extent this endeavor will prove to be a major distraction. The problem is that insufficient resources over the last decade have been allocated in parallel to support systems proteomics research. Until a significant international commitment is made to take up this challenge, the genome sequencing projects will continue to be objects of curiosity rather than practicality. What is the point of knowing even one person's genomic sequence if it is essentially uninterpretable, even if it costs a thousand dollars? When we do understand how the cell works with its molecular components in systems rather than just having a parts lists, then the impact on the world's economies will be truly staggering in all sectors.
Link to the original blog post.
The true dividend from the sequencing of the human genome will not come until we can make sense of what all of the expressed proteins and functional RNA oligonucleotides are actually doing. From a commercial standpoint, the genome sequencing projects have driven the development of new and improved sequencing (and microarray) technologies. This is currently driving a genome sequencing frenzy where it seems to be in vogue to sequence the genomes of hundreds of different species and soon thousands of different people. While there is likely to be useful information from such pursuits, to a large extent this endeavor will prove to be a major distraction. The problem is that insufficient resources over the last decade have been allocated in parallel to support systems proteomics research. Until a significant international commitment is made to take up this challenge, the genome sequencing projects will continue to be objects of curiosity rather than practicality. What is the point of knowing even one person's genomic sequence if it is essentially uninterpretable, even if it costs a thousand dollars? When we do understand how the cell works with its molecular components in systems rather than just having a parts lists, then the impact on the world's economies will be truly staggering in all sectors.
Link to the original blog post.