What Genomics Means to Us

For a while now, we have been able to sequence the genomes of organisms, giving us a glimpse of the base of life.  The practical applications of this ability are in biotechnology and engineering.  Making organisms that produce things for us or disabling pathogens are only two examples of the versatility of breadth of the opportunities.  Early in 2010, scientists were able to sequence the genome of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, something that causes thousands of deaths in America each year.   Tracking a Superbug with Whole-Genome Sequencing shows the advances and the possibilities here for advancement. 

By sequencing the genome of all sorts of strains, scientists can then construct an evolutionary tree for Staphylococcus aureus and track it.  This is accomplished by comparing the genomesof multiple strains of this bacterium with each other to see the percent same of the amino acid sequence.  Actually, the common man can do this online through various search engines, but the evolutionary biologists can track this bug across the world.

Some people are critical of the improved technology, saying it's not enough to be of medical significance, but these improvements aren't meant to be a final solution.  This is a place to jump from, into eradication of pathogens without creating resistant strains.  Antibiotics are decreasing in effectiveness because they select for those bacteria that have resistance factors in their genome, and these pathogens reproduce, even thrive, in the very environment that is supposed to kill them.  At this point, with our overusage of antibiotics, we can use any advances in technology we can get.

The way to keep moving forward is simply that.  I'm reminded of the movie Meet the Robinsons where the main character had to keep moving forward, look past failures and use them as stepping stones to greater success.  Everybody overquotes Thomas Edison, but his perserverance has shaped the modern world.  In America, we need to teach the students to think creatively and problem solve with the top minds of the world.  Expose the children early, foster their curiousity, and let them think they can conquer the world, because they can.