SEQUENCING PAST AND PRESENT: Sequencers that were used for the human genome project at the Sanger Centre (left) and the sequencers the facility uses today (right).GENOME RESEARCH LIMITED
The students in John Burton’s grade 7 to 11 science classes have never lived in a world without knowledge of how the human genome is strung together. That their teacher was one of the people involved in unravelling this mystery means little to them. “I have told them, to try to generate enthusiasm, but have not gone into detail,” says Burton, who mainly teaches physics.
Fifteen years ago, as a member of the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, Burton managed one of the high-throughput production teams at the Sanger Centre. “The Human Genome Project (HGP) was a fantastic piece of work to be involved in, and we always felt that we were helping to leave a worthwhile legacy,” he says. Altogether, researchers from more than ...
