Abstract

Now that the draft human genome sequence is available, everyone wants to be able to use it. However, we have perhaps become complacent about our ability to turn new genomes into lists of genes. The higher volume of data associated with a larger genome is accompanied by a much greater increase in complexity. We need to appreciate both the scale of the challenge of vertebrate genome analysis and the limitations of current gene prediction methods and understanding.

1. The European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
2. The Sanger Centre, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK

Correspondence to: Ewan Birney¹ Correspondence should be addressed to E.B. (e-mail: Email: birney@ebi.ac.uk).