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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...

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