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Stephen Hawking's perspective: You may know that I am suffering from what is known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's Disease, which is thought to have a genetic component to its origin. It is for this reason that I am a supporter of the $10M Archon X PRIZE for Genomics to drive rapid human genome sequencing. This prize and the resulting technology can help bring about an era of personalized medicine. It is my sincere hope that the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics can help drive breakthroughs in diseases like ALS at the same time that future X PRIZEs for space travel help humanity to become a galactic species." Professor Stephen Hawking 
The discoverers of the structure of DNA. James Watson (b.1928) at left and Francis Crick (b.1916), with their model of part of a DNA molecule in 1953. Crick & Watson met at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, in 1951. Their work on the structure of DNA was performed with a knowledge of Chargaff's ratios of the bases in DNA and some access to the X-ray crystallography of Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin at King's College London. Combining all of this work led to the deduction that DNA exists as a double helix. Crick, Watson and Wilkins shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, Franklin having died of cancer in 1958.
Credit: A. Barrington Brown / Photo Researchers, Inc |
The Promise of Personalized Medicine Imagine the day when you and your doctor sit down to review a copy of your own personal genome. This vital information about your biology will enable your physician to inform you of your disease susceptibilities, the best ways to keep yourself healthy and how to avoid or lessen the impact of future illness. This is a very exciting time in Genomics. Scientists are on the brink of discovering the genetic factors in diabetes, heart disease, common cancers, high blood pressure, asthma, mental illness — virtually any disease that tends to run in families. In the past, the diagnostic classification of a cancer was based on the organ or tissue location, such as liver or breast cancer. But now, the many forms of cancer can be characterized by their molecular profile. These molecular characteristics provide new information on how rapidly the cancer might spread or how it might respond to specific treatments. The use of personal genetic information to predict disease susceptibility and guide proactive care has the power to transform our entire healthcare system. 
When a team wins the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, find out what leading thinkers around the globe would do with affordable gene sequencing...
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The Daily ScanPresented by GenomeWeb Archon X PRIZE FOR GENOMICS SUPPORTERS
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