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Published online 22 October 2008 | Nature 455, 1014 (2008) | doi:10.1038/4551014a

News

Accessible genomes move closer

Meeting captures human interest in genetic research.

New York

Rarely do research subjects attend scientific meetings. Yet at the inaugural Cold Spring Harbor Personal Genomes meeting this month on Long Island in New York, the Nobel-prizewinning biologist James Watson sat in the front row as other researchers dissected his genetic vulnerabilities via a PowerPoint presentation.

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  • It is not clear if Watson knew he is lactose intolerant and his genome has now confirmed it or he has come to know about it for the first time from his sequence. Clarifying this will be critical in assessing usefulness of personal genomics.

    • 23 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: abhay sharma
  • The Biosciences's plan for their new sequencing machine seems a huge step forward but what is the cost of the facility and each sequenced genome? will that bring the $1000 genome dream to reality ?

    • 23 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Amin Mazloom