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30 years of progress from positional cloning to precision genome editing

Nature Genetics volume 54, pages 908–910 (2022)Cite this article

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Thirty years ago, I had the privilege of launching Nature Genetics, the first spin-off journal bearing the famous Nature logo. Spurred on by the Human Genome Project, there were high hopes for the new journal and indeed the future of human genetics. But there was little expectation that we would launch a science publishing franchise of more than 30 sister journals — or be able to therapeutically rewrite the faulty genomes of patients. Here, I reflect on the humble beginnings of Nature Genetics and 30 years of progress in genetics.

I fell into a career in science publishing accidentally, as it became apparent that I was not cut out for a career in academic research. For example, having gleefully accepted a PhD position in London with Kay Davies (no relation) and Bob Williamson in 1983, hunting the genes mutated in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, I canceled my interview with a young faculty member at the University of Leicester without too much thought. I second guessed that decision after Alec Jeffreys presented the first demonstration of DNA fingerprinting, ultimately published in Nature1, while I was struggling to make a cDNA library. A few years later, I arrived at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to start a postdoctoral fellowship with cell biologist Harvey Lodish, only to be told that my project had been scooped — Lodish was reviewing the manuscript for Nature2.

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Fig. 1: The launch of Nature Genetics.

Kevin Davies.

Fig. 2: To the next 30 years.

Kevin Davies.

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  1. The CRISPR Journal, New Rochelle, NY, USA

    Kevin Davies

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Correspondence to Kevin Davies.

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K.D. is the founding Executive Editor of The CRISPR Journal and GEN Biotechnology, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

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Davies, K. 30 years of progress from positional cloning to precision genome editing. Nat Genet 54, 908–910 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01128-6

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