The Economist - USA (2020-06-27)

3210

Locationswheremodern

samplesweretaken

SiteswhereNeanderthal

genomeswereretrieved

Size,terabytes,logscale

1

10

100

1,000

10,000

2010 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

UKBiobankgenotypes

1,000Genomes

Phase 1

Numberofpeople

Areaofresearch

50,000

1,000

500,000

Population

genetics

Medicine

TheCancer

GenomeAtlas

Pyrosequencing

Detectslightemitted

asnucleotidesareadded

totheDNAstrand

Nanoporesequencing

DNAis passedthrough

a holeina protein

Single-molecule

real-timesequencing

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

Costofsequencing,

$ permillionbases

2001 04 06 08 10 12 14 16 18 20

Fungi

Plants

Protists

Animals

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

Totalnumberof

speciessequenced*

→Genomescanbecorrelatedwith other data, for better medical knowledge

→Asthecosthascomedown,sequencing has spread beyond humans

Sources: INSDC; NHGRI; Broad Institute; S. Peyrégne et al., Science Advances, 2019; S. Mallick et al., Nature, 2016

*Non-human eukaryotes since 2003 †Heat map interpolated from point data

Cost of sequencing and species sequenced

Prevalence of Neanderthal

DNA in modern humans†

% of genome

→ Sequencing can reach into the past, as well as the present

Selected large genomic datasets

2010-19

The EconomistJune 27th 2020 77

T

wenty yearsago, on June 26th 2000,

those running the public Human Ge-

nome Project and its private-sector shad-

ow, a firm called Celera Genomics, decided

to declare victory. In a simultaneous

breasting of the tape, each published a

“working draft” of the genome. The broker,

Bill Clinton, hosted the chief scientists at

the White House. Hyperbolic comparisons

were made to the Apollo project to land

people on the Moon.

Unlike Apollo, though, this announce-

ment marked a beginning rather than an

end. Genomics is now so embedded in bi-

ology that it is hard to recall what things

were like before it. Those first human se-

quences cost billions of dollars to obtain.

Today, with the advent of new technol-

ogies, a full sequence costs about $200,

and less detailed versions are cheaper still.

It is as if, to use Apollo as the analogy, regu-

lar shuttles to the Moon had become avail-

able at prices an average family in the West

could afford—and the more adventurous

might now be considering a trip to Mars.

Researchers with a hypothesis to test

can, for instance, turn to biobanks contain-

ing details of tens or hundreds of thou-

sands of people—their medical records,

education, employment and, crucially,

data about their genomes. Private compa-

nies will also sequence genomes to varying

standards, for a suitable price. It is proba-

bly the case, and if not, it soon will be, that

more than 1m human genomes have been

sequenced by one method or another.

Genomics also helps non-medical biol-

ogy. Many non-human species, including

crops and domestic animals, have had

their genomes sequenced. Though tinker-

ing directly with the genes of organisms

that end up on people’s plates still makes

some a bit queasy, that is increasingly un-

necessary. Genomic knowledge can now be

used to speed up selective breeding, with-

out the need for genetic engineering.

At the other end of the scientific spec-

trum, what can be done for Homo sapiens

can be done, using dnafrom fossils, for

other (now extinct) species of human be-

ing: the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

There is a possible practical interest even

here. Sequencing shows that these species

once interbred with Homo sapiens. It also

suggests that the traces of that interbreed-

ing which remain may help the recipient to

fight off infections, by combating viruses

and boosting the immune system. 7

The Human Genome Project has

transformed biology and medicine

Dawn of an era

Graphic detailGenomics