Genomic Sequencing
The past two decades have witnessed extraordinary technological and computational advances in nucleic acid sequencing. This Milestone timeline provides a perspective of major genomic sequencing-related developments in the 21st century — from the first human reference genome, through methodological breakthroughs, to the impact of sequencing on fields as diverse as microbiology, cancer and palaeogenetics.
This Milestone is editorially independent, produced with financial support from a third party. About this content.
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1. How a worm showed us the way to open science
Over the past two decades since the human genome was first sequenced, high-throughput sequencing technologies have transformed biomedical research. Robert (Bob) Waterston was instrumental in pushing for an open science approach to the Human Genome Project, drawing on the success of mapping and sequencing the genome of the nematode worm.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first draft human genome sequence, the Nature Milestones in Genomic Sequencing project caught up with Bob to hear about his personal experience of this landmark international effort.
2. How ancient DNA sequencing changed the game
The past two decades have witnessed extraordinary technological and computational advances in nucleic acid sequencing. Working with ancient DNA, Beth Shapiro has applied next-generation sequencing to look into genomes of the distant past, with the hope that they can help us to understand our future.
The Nature Milestones in Genomic Sequencing project caught up with Beth to hear about the impact of genomic sequencing on the field of ancient DNA research.
