Isabella AugustineSenior Biological Sciences major Hello everybody! This semester I am enrolled in Genomics as a higher-level elective course for the biology major. You may be wondering, what the heck is ‘genomics’? Well, it’s actually a rapidly emerging field of science. To start, we should ask: What is a ‘genome’? A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of our genes. So, in laymen’s terms, genomics is the study of genomes. However, this field delves into topics such as gene structure and function, gene mapping, evolution, and gene editing/engineering. In 1986, geneticist Thomas H. Roderick, Ph.D., coined the term “genomics” when he was out at a bar with Frank Ruddle, Ph.D., Victor McKusick, M.D. and other colleagues. They had just attended an international meeting in Bethesda, Maryland to address the possibility of what seemed just out of reach at the time: mapping the entire human genome. Check out an interesting article here : In 1987, Ruddle and McKusick paid credit to Roderick for coining the term in their newly-created journal titled, “Genomics”. They define genomics as “a marriage of molecular and cell biology with classical genetics, fostered by computational science”. The computational science component is really what distinguishes genomics from other fields in science. Advances in technology have driven genomics research through the roof over the past few decades. Traditionally, ‘Sanger sequencing’ was the only method used in sequencing DNA. It was one of the biggest breakthroughs of its day, but it was costly, required a lot of labor, and time insensitive. Now, with what is known as ‘Next-Generation sequencing’ (NGS), researchers have the ability to sequence a genome for less than two thousand dollars, with smaller, table-top machines. They are able to generate results in just a few days, sometimes within hours! With NGS, researchers are able to rapidly share genomic data with others and store their findings in convenient online databases. This allows DNA sequences to be shared and compared across the entire world. With advances in genomic technology, researchers can work in consortium to complete large sequencing goals. Perform a quick Google search on “The Human Genome Project” or “The International HapMap Project” to learn more about these successful programs. It is truly amazing that so many people can collaborate to reach a common goal despite being located in different cities, states, and countries! That’s Genomics in a nutshell! If any of these topics have sparked your interest, you should consider taking BIOSC 1275:Genomics as a higher-level elective course next fall!
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January 2022
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