Genomics

The study of individual genes has produced extraordinary insights into nearly all aspects of biology, ranging from disease and heredity to agriculture and evolution. However, many questions about how genes work and evolve can be answered only by studying all of an organism’s DNA—its genome—together as a whole.

The study of complete genomes is known as genomics. It involves the sequencing of entire genomes to examine their organization, function, regulation, and evolution. Genomics sits at the intersection of genetics, molecular biology, and computational sciences.

After the structure of DNA was identified in 1953, scientists began developing techniques to sequence individual genes. An important breakthrough in DNA sequencing came in 1977 when Frederick Sanger developed a method allowing for whole genomes to be sequenced. This led to the sequencing of the genomes for baker’s yeast and the fruit fly using the shotgun sequencing approach.  

The Human Genome Project that started in 1990 was a 13-year, $2.7 billion international effort that successfully sequenced the first human genome in 2003. The success of this project led to innovations in sequencing technologies and human genomes can now be sequenced in a day for under a thousand dollars. 

The large amounts of data generated lead to the emergence of the field of bioinformatics that combines mathematical and computer science techniques to organize, analyze, and compare the vast amounts of genomic data. 

Genomics is now a central component of personalized medicine, for example in treatment of cancer, and it continues to play a key role in fields such as anthropology, evolution, forensics, and agriculture, among many others.