Today: $3B Genome Now $1K

International Congress of Genetics returns to Australia
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Media welcome

"Twenty years ago, at the International Congress of Genetics in Melbourne, we learnt of the implications of the $3 billion human genome project," says Professor Phil Batterham, the Congress Co-convenor.

"Today, in Melbourne, your genome can be sequenced for a few thousand dollars in a few days. And the information can be used to identify your risk of disease, and to create a unique treatment for your cancer. What's next?" he asks.

For the next six days we will hear how genetics has transformed medicine, food, conservation, and almost every area of human activity.

And we'll hear of what's coming in the next decade including:

  • Knowing the biological function of every human gene, leading to new treatments
  • Accessing your complete genome in a user-friendly form on your smart phone
  • Collecting DNA from air and water to measure and protect plants and animals and explore the Tree of Life
  • Boosting food production with more resilient crops
  • Equity, bringing the genetic revolution benefits to First Peoples around the world and to the Global South
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