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Bioinformatics / Interpreting the Human Genome
Pages 44-48

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From page 44...
... The Human Genome Project had begun in 1990 and was originally expected to take at least 15 years. However, around 1998 advances in the new discipline of bioinformatics -- which combines biology with computer science, statistics, linear algebra, combinatorics, and even geometry -- dramatically accelerated the project, turning it from a marathon into a 2-year sprint to the finish.
From page 45...
... To sequence the whole genome, scientists had to chop it into millions of shorter pieces, sequence those pieces, and reassemble them. The publicly funded Human Genome Project and the privately funded Celera Genomics adopted two different strategies, both of which eventually led to the same mathematical problem.
From page 46...
... Human genomes include many sequences that repeat identically in many places. These repeats were a big headache for genome sequencers because when a contiguous region ended with a pattern that occurred in many places, they had no idea which puzzle piece should come next.
From page 47...
... A second transformation of genomics was the introduction of commercial nextgeneration gene sequencers, around 2004. Thanks to new advances in chemistry, biologists can now read hundreds of thousands of DNA snippets simultaneously.
From page 48...
... A Battelle Memorial Institute study in 2011 concluded that the economic impact of the Human Genome Project has nearly reached $800 billion -- quite The application of a return on the U.S. government's $3 billion investment.


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