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Genomes on Display

By Emily Singer

 

An intrepid group of volunteers will be granted a glimpse at their genomes today as part of the first release of data from the Personal Genome Project (PGP).

Headed by Harvard University genomics pioneer George Church, the project aims to capitalize on rapid improvements in gene-sequencing technologies to better understand human health and disease. The PGP will serve as both a technological and an ethical test bed, assessing new methods of reading, sorting, and analyzing DNA, and highlighting societal issues that could spring up in the era of personal genomics--most notably, the privacy of genetic information.