In 2001, the publication and release of a human genome working draft led healthcare into a new era, that of genomics-based medicine. This sparked the first successes in molecular medicine, such as the use of gene expression profiling in cancer diagnostics and treatments. However, it soon became clear that in addition to understanding what we all share, we would need to understand better what makes us different.
To reach that goal, genomes of millions of individuals need to be analyzed by customized bioinformatics tools; this is the focus of "personal genomics". DNA sequencing is at present still too costly and time-consuming to address the needs of personal genomics. Huge volumes of sequence data would have to be churned out at an astonishing rate and at low cost. The National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the U.S. National Institute of Health set a cost target of US$1,000 to sequence a human-sized genome. Only then could the visions of predictive and personalized medicine, i.e. the understanding the impact of differences in genetic make-up on an individual's predisposition to human diseases, and the use of genomics information to decide the most appropriate medical treatment for a particular individual, be fulfilled.
The imagination goes simply wild at the perspective of complete sequencing of a human being's DNA for US$1,000. The myriad of applications for such a technology will leave nobody in our society untouched, from scientists to our families, friends and neighbors. The real question is rather:"What wouldn't we do?"
