Foley & Lardner LLP Partner Michael Pontrelli and Associate Oyvind Dahle collaborated to author the Drug Discovery World article, “Why a Recent Advancement is a Giant Leap for Human Genomics”, discussing the implications of the first complete, gapless sequence of the human genome. An excerpt is below:
The first ‘final’ human genome sequence was announced some 20 years ago, and since then ‘next-generation’ sequencing technology and the human genome reference sequence have made it possible to sequence a whole genome within a week, providing widespread applications in both research and clinical medicine. However, the work was not done and about 8% of the genome remained in the dark until recently. One of the main hurdles for sequencing the last 8% was the highly repetitive nature of some regions of the human genome.
The completion of the human genome will strengthen efforts in understanding, diagnosing, and treating human diseases, along with inspiring a global change in the use and development of the LRS technology that made it possible. Read the full article here.
