2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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What is the most rapidly growing branch of DNA research/application?
     Kris Wetterstrand, M.S.: I currently work on the Large-scale Sequencing Program, which managed the Human Genome Project, and the Human Microbiome Project, an effort to sequence the DNA of microbes (e.g. bacteria) that live in and on humans. I don't know if this is the most rapidly growing branch, but it is changing very fast. It is the area of genome sequencing. We are getting closer and closer to being able to sequence a human genome for $10,000 or less. compare that to the human Genome Project - it cost around $200 million.
Roosevelt High School in WA (11th grade student)

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