We all should know who Dr. James Watson is. Along with Dr. Francis Crick and the less acknowledged Dr. Maurice Wilkins, they shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material."
In other words they discovered the structure of DNA.
Dr. James Watson, chancellor of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is one of the most famous scientists living and today he was presented with a complete copy of the sequence of his genome.
Now, the human genome sequence has been released in several versions so far. So, Watson's sequence isn't the first human's genome to be completely sequenced. He's at least the third. The well known Human Genome Project was a multi-centered, government run, $3 billion project (NIH and DOE) initiated in 1990, the source of the DNA for that project has not, to my knowledge, been revealed. The other genome project started in 1998 was Celera Genomics sequencing project headed by Dr. Craig Venter, who was the source of the DNA for that project. Celera was determined to be the first to release a draft of the complete human genome and at a cost of only $300 million. Though the immediate goals were the same, decode the human genome, the key disctinction was one was a long-term government project with freely available data and the other was a privately held company that sought to patent as much as they could to generate profits in what we now term genomic medicine. Celera later changed its policy making their data freely available but limitied its availability per download per researcher.
The sequence presented today to James Watson builds upon the success of the Human and Celera Genome projects and is the result of the innovations from 454 Life Sciences in collaboration with the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, which has also contributed greatly to the Human Genome Project as well as numerous other critter's genome sequencing.
The techincal innovation that 454 utilized to complete Watson's genome is not as important as the fact that it was completed in two months for $1 million.
While at that price you wouldn't expect a frenzied rush by many people seeking their own personal sequence that is the goal. It isn't too far-fetched that in the very near future to expect to pay $1000 for your own genome to be sequenced and in days or weeks instead of months. From this information you will know which gene mutations or genomic abnormalities you carry and will undoubtedly result in earlier detection of disease and thus more successful treatment. Naturally, there are legal/ethical debates about having this information available, most notable for insurance companies.
Regardless, the Personal Genomics Era is here. And through innovative collaborations between government and industry, like the one behind today's event, science will continue to push envelopes and break down barriers to knowledge. Personally, as a biological scientist, I can't wait to see the sequence of my genome