Bright Futures and Genomic Duties
By Jonathan Kahn, Biopolitical Times guest contributor
| 04. 20. 2011
A recent issue of Nature reviewed the accomplishments of the Human Genome Project 10 years after the grand announcement of the completion of the first draft of the human genome. With a cover declaring "The Future is Bright," the issue featured an article by Eric Green, the new director of National Human Genome Research Institute, and others [pdf] that was intended to "articulate a 2011 vision for the future of genomics research and describe the path towards an era of genomic medicine."
Understandably, the authors accentuate the positive and express both hope and enthusiasm for the future of genomic research. To realize the great promise of ongoing genomic research, they also identify several "imperatives for genomic medicine," specifically:
- Making genomics-based diagnostics routine
- Defining the genetic components of disease
- Comprehensive characterization of cancer genomes
- Practical systems for clinical genomic informatics
- The role of the human microbiome in health and disease
These are relatively unexceptional goals and certainly worthy of pursuit. To propel genomic research down this path, however, the authors also declare that "Effective genomics research needs continual, broad...
Related Articles
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...
By Ryan Cross, Endpoints News | 08.19.2025
Human eggs are incredibly rare cells. The ovary typically produces only 400 mature eggs across a woman’s life. But biologists in George Church’s lab at Harvard University — a group that’s never content with nature’s limits — just got a...
By Katherine Drabiak, Journal of Medical Ethics Forum | 08.07.2025
Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute
Recently, media outlets around the world have been reporting on children born from pronuclear genome transfer (sometimes called “3-parent IVF,” “mitochondrial donation” or “mitochondrial replacement therapy”) at Newcastle Fertility Center...
By Nicky Hudson, The Conversation | 08.12.2025
