Sequence genomes of 100,000 people

Dr Church wants to sequence the entire genomes of 100,000 people—nearly every one of the six billion As,Cs,Gs and Ts that occur in a human. “The goal of getting your genome done is not to tell you what you will die from,” he said,“but it’s how to learn how to take action to prevent disease.”

So far,the science of predicting a person’s health future using genetic markers has not produced much useful information for common diseases,although Dr Church believes that this will change. “We need full genome sequences to understand what is really going on genetically,” he said. “Until recently,this wasn’t feasible.”

The project is becoming possible as the speed and efficiency of sequencing increase dramatically,and the once-prohibitive costs drop from millions of dollars for a genome two years ago to under $10,000 today.

Sometimes,Dr Church seems to veer into science fiction. At a dinner a few months ago,he sat with colleagues discussing a project that involves “mirror biology”—the creation of DNA,cells and organisms that are exact opposites of the natural versions. He explained that this was like building a replica of an old-fashioned clock by looking only at its reflection. “While mirror life may look identical to current life,” he said,“it is radically different in terms of resistance to viruses,pathogens and enzyme digestion,among other things,because molecular interactions of life are very sensitive to the mirror arrangement of the atoms.”

He added this was more complicated than creating the genome of a microbe and inserting it into a living cell—a feat recently announced by the geneticist J. Craig Venter.