Understanding an individual, technology takes a leap

For technology, there is always a point when its utility value takes a huge upturn. Like for the Internet, it was the intervention of WWW, for mobile devices, it was when your local Telco providers started providing affordable prices and plans. Just seen an article in New York Times.

JAMES D. WATS ON, who helped crack the DNA code half a century ago, last week became the first person handed the full text of his own DNA on a small computer disk. But he won’t be the last.

Having such information about our DNA at an affordable cost will signal a new era on how medical treatment and services will work. General practitioners role in medical treatment will evolve to studying an individual's DNA and understanding what specific hybrid of medication works best. The demand for technology that provides manageable access to this wealth of data will skyrocket and whole industries will be spun round using/abusing this data.

But until then, this milestone in genetic studies, will be as how Amy Harmon reported it

Until then, even Dr. Watson, who posted his genome on the Internet last week, has to wait. At a ceremony marking the occasion, he stared at the disk containing his genome for a few seconds, then stuck it in his pocket.