More than Moore’s Mores: Computers, Genomics, and the Embrace of Innovation

Abstract

The genomics community has frequently compared advances in sequencing to advances in microelectronics. Lately there have been many claims, including by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), that genomics is outpacing developments in computing as measured by Moore's law - the notion that computers double in processing capability per dollar spent every 18-24 months. Celebrations of the "$1000 genome" and other speed-related sequencing milestones might be dismissed as a distraction from genomics' slowness in delivering clinical breakthroughs, but the fact that such celebrations have been persistently encouraged by the NHGRI reveals a great deal about the priorities and expectations of the American general public, the intended audience of the genomics-computing comparison. By delving into the history of speculative thinking about sequencing and computing, this article demonstrates just how much more receptive to high-risk/high-payoff ventures the NIH and the general public have become. The article also provides access to some of the roots and consequences of the association of "innovation talk" with genomics, and the means to look past that association to the less glamorous (but arguably much more important) contributions of the NHGRI to building the field of genomics.

OIL PALM ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIA AND R&D PROGRESS IN 2020

“…Whilst it is argued that genomics, in particularly the Human Genome Project has yet to deliver any major clinical breakthroughs (November, 2018), and with agricultural genomics being well behind that of human genomics, it was envisaged that the latter would probably realise the benefits earlier, generally because it is easier and less controversial to put the technology into practice. One of the earliest demonstrations of the commercial use of genomics in oil palm is in addressing the non-tenera contamination in the industry (Ooi et al, 2016).…”

“…Separately, in production of palm oil, the main contributors to water footprint along the oil palm supply chain through the concept of cradle-to-gate are: (1) cultivation of oil palm FFB in plantations, (2) boiler and process water in mills, and (3) processing of palm kernel from kernel crushers. The water footprint assessment based on the water accounting and vulnerability evaluation (WAVE) method has been compared via mass, economic and energy allocation (Berger et al, 2014;2018). Mills with the highest water footprint impact are urged to avoid dilution after the screw press of CPO .…”

The dark side of technological advances in analysis of microbial ecosystems

“…Firstly, the computing power necessary to analyse the increased volume of data will carry its own financial costs. Simple algorithms (the so-called Moore’s Law) suggest that computer power has doubled approximately every 2 years, but estimates are that this may slow down in the near future unless step-change technologies like quantum computing become widely available [10, 11]. Together with the phenomenon of software ‘bloat’, where an increasing amount of the available computer power is used in translating between layers of software or hardware compatibility and is unavailable to the user, this may even result in decreasing returns in new hypotheses or ideas from increasing amounts of data.…”

Activity‐Based Protein Profiling (ABPP) of Oxidoreductases

“…Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, the time and costs for the sequencing of genes and even genomes have fallen at such a fast pace that it has been compared to the continuous development of microchip capacity following Moore's law [1] . Every single day the databases for deposited gene sequences are filled with new entries.…”