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The Human Genome Project was undoubtedly a huge step in mankind’s history, but initial hype around the achievement did not translate swiftly into tangible developments. Whilst the journey has been longer than hoped for and filled with hurdles, incorporation of genetics in medicine is becoming ever more commonplace and looks set to fulfill many of the initial hopes surrounding the field, albeit slower than expected.
When the Human Genome Project was undertaken, a great deal of current knowledge regarding DNA and its regulation, especially the field of epigenetics, had not yet been established. Essentially, the whole business turned out to be full of surprises and was a great deal more complicated than merely the code itself.
“We have never witnessed a time of greater promise for advances in medicine than right now,”
The larger picture of disease and biology is unraveling slowly and although initial gene therapy success was also tainted with failure, as we’ve learned more science has began to overcome previous challenges. Your genes might not be the only factor in many conditions, but with rapidly expanding sequencing technology and breakthroughs like CRISPR, genomics is providing significant hope for the future of medicine.
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Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
