Mapping the individual - cheaply
Had one of his parents been slightly less fortunate in their choice of a mate, James Watson might not have helped discover the structure of DNA in 1953. Instead, he would have been born deaf, and then lost his sight as he became a teenager. Equally, as he is, had he been less fortunate in the genetic lottery when he chose his wife, either of their sons might have had the same fate.
This is because Watson’s complete DNA - his genome - contains a single gene for Usher’s syndrome, an inherited disorder which affects hearing and sight. Watson’s must have come from one of his parents. Usher’s is a “recessive” disease - you need two copies of the gene to be affected. About five people per 100,000 carry the gene, so Watson’s chances of being disabled weren’t large. But they were real.
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The rapidly falling cost and time needed to map your DNA
Year Cost Time 2003 $437,000,000 13 years to map 2007 $10,000,000 4 years 2008 $100,000 4 weeks 2012 $100* 2 days *Forecast
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