Thinking about the general field of molecular biology and gene regulation, what has been the most impactful discovery or invention over the past 50 years? Why do you think it was the most impactful? How did it impact the field?

The Human Genome Project has been getting quite a bit of flak recently. In a 2010 article in Scientific American, Stephen S. Hall stated that the Human Genome Project (HGP) had to date “failed to produce the medical miracles that scientists promised”. The HGP, which was completed in 2003, was a decade-and-a-half-long international research effort to sequence and map the entirety of the human genome. Upon the project’s completion, the scientific and medical communities were excited about the potential of this information to personalize medicine and discover the genes that were responsible for every human disease. However, things turned out to be a bit more complicated than anticipated. Many of the conditions that are most prevalent around the world, such as diabetes, do not have a single gene to blame. Instead, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have demonstrated that a multitude of potential genes interact in complex and mysterious ways to produce the metabolic condition. When it comes to investigating the causes of disease, it seems that every new discovery leads to another ten questions. As a result, the personalized medicine revolution does not seem likely any time soon.

However, while it is true that the sequencing of the human genome has not delivered all of the exceptional results that were initially promised, the ability to sequence an entire genome rapidly and efficiently has undoubtably revolutionized the way in which research in molecular biology is done. The DNA sequence of a protein one wishes to investigate can be found with a quick Google search. Sequencing an entire genome can take place in a matter of hours. Mutations can be quickly and easily identified, and compared to a reference genome. Many new technologies, including next generation sequencing techniques, have been developed as well, undoubtably inspired by the quest to sequence the entire genome. These changes have reverberated across all fields of research within the life sciences, and have the potential to lead to discoveries more efficiently. Therefore, although the impact of the Human Genome Project may not be seen in hospitals and clinics, it can be easily observed in the research labs located around the world.