April 16, 2008 -- The idea of having your personal genetic code unraveled was once a dream reserved for people who are fans of science or big on ego -- and deep in pocket. But a new technique, described in the Thursday issue of the British journal Nature, has slashed the cost and time of genome sequencing, in an important step towards tailor-made medicine. The human genome comprises around three billion base pairs -- the "rungs" in the ladder of the chemical code for life. The Human Genome Project (HGP), a consortium of public-sector scientists, spent 437 million dollars (278 million euros) and 13 years to complete the first sequencing of the genome, in 2003. It tied in a race against maverick biologist Craig Venter, who developed a fast-track sequencing method. Later, Venter's own genome was sequenced. That project, completed last September, cost around 100 million dollars (62.9 million euros). The next-generation technique, led by the Rothberg Institute for Childhood Diseases Research in Connecticut, sequenced a sample given by James Watson, the Nobel laureate who co-discovered the DNA double helix. Susan Dentzer on Health |
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