First individual human genome decoded

Within five years, faster and cheaper sequencing techniques could produce complete genomes for 10,000 people, laying the foundation for 8220;an era of individualized genomics,8221; he predicted.

8220;Once we have those, we will basically be able to sort out every fundamental question about nature versus nurture, what8217;s genetic and what8217;s environment,8221; he said by phone.

The findings overturn what had in a few short years become genetic gospel: that all human beings are, genetically speaking, 99.9 per cent identical.

Venter himself trumpeted this idea in 2000 when his biotech firm Celera, which he left in 2003, and a team of US-government scientists simultaneously unveiled 8212; after a bruising race to the finish line 8212; the fist complete human genome.

Both of these earlier efforts were flawed and greatly underestimated genetic diversity, he and his colleagues now say, because the whole had been assembled from a hodgepodge of DNA taken from several individuals.