James Watson's genome published

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Friday 18 April 2008

RAPID ROUNDUP: James Watson's genome published - Experts comment

The co-discoverer of the double helix, James Watson,has had his genome published in the journal Nature. His was the second genome published. The first cost billions. Watson’s genome cost just a few hundred thousand. In a decade your personal genetic code could be available for as little as a thousand dollars. Two experts comment below on the implications of human genome sequencing.

Feel free to use these comments in your stories.Any further quotes will be posted here as they come to hand. If you would like to speak to one of these or other experts, please don’t hesitate to contact us on (08) 8207 7415 or by email.

Eddy Rubin is Director of the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and Genomics Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA.

"Today the co-discoverer of the double helix, James Watson, had his genome published in the journal Nature. His was the second genome published. The first cost billions. Watson's genome cost just a few hundred thousand. In a decade your personal genetic code will be available for a thousand dollars or so.

This news is the crest of a giant wave in personal genomics that is coming. It will revolutionise our view of our genome. To date, scientists have focused on disease biology as this has life and death implications. But I see interest returning to normal biology - why one person likes spicy food, why my daughter has red hair, why your friend can run faster than you."

John Mattick is a Federation Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), University of Queensland.

"Having access to your personal genome info will be tremendously empowering.

In the not too distant future you’ll be able to find out, in conjunction with your doctor, the personal risk of things like heart disease. And there may be things you don’t want to know. James Watson has chosen not to find out about his risk of Alzheimer’s.

Genomics is going ballistic. It's fusing with genetics, and this is leading to an explosion of discovery as we unravel the biochemical mechanisms that underpin phenotypic traits. And it provides a window to the diversity of life.

It’s marking an end to the old reductionist model of research and shifting to systems biology. Your research will be severely limited if you don’t have access to the genome of your research subject.

Whoever generates and uses this information will lead the next generation of applications."

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