The cost and time taken to sequencing the whole genome of a bacterium has plummeted.
He directs the MedSeq Project, the first National Institutes of Health study to examine the impact of whole genome sequencing in the practice of medicine.
Whole genome mapping may yield more of these personalised therapies.
Still, the group issued a policy statement in March that said there are instances where whole genome sequencing can contribute to clinical care, such as in detecting mysterious diseases.
He says that when whole-genome sequencing arrives, single-gene patents will be of no use.
George Church, a molecular geneticist at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer of whole-genome sequencing, is unpersuaded.
The genetic sequences of prokaryotes, by contrast, are obtained by a process called whole-genome shotgunning, which Dr Venter has pioneered.
In particular, Craig Venter, Sir John's rival from the private sector, could yet be given a prize for the technique known as whole-genome shotgunning.
ECONOMIST: This year, the Nobel authorities have shown a deft touch
He used a new DNA-sequencing technique called whole-genome shotgunning that he and a colleague, Hamilton Smith, had invented, and patented a good tranche of human genes on the way.
But this sort of whole-genome sequencing, which has so far been completed on five bacteria, should allow a much better understanding of how bacteria work, what they have in common, and what makes individual species unique.
The central struggle was between the publicly funded international Human Genome Project, led by Francis Collins, a distinguished scientist and devout Christian, which pursued a slow-and-steady approach to sequencing until Celera, a private company led by Craig Venter, appeared on the scene and boldly claimed that its revolutionary new technique, whole-genome shot-gun sequencing, could do the job in less than half the time.
At the time, Venter was trying to accelerate the process of sequencing whole genomes, first one-celled organisms, but ultimately gearing up to take on the decoding of the human genome.
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