Hi there!

It’s Anna, Andreea and Viki here. We’re all 2nd-year students of Natural Sciences at UCL. This summer, we got engaged in UCL’s Innovation Lab project. The topic we decided to explore is called: The Genomic Revolution- reaching for the opportunities written in our DNA.

In our project, we would like to explore the legacy of the Human Genome Project, which resulted in a completely new approach to medicine and therapeutics, popularly called a genomic revolution. Commenting on the Human Genome Project, Bill Clinton famously said: Today we are learning the language in which God created life. We would like to answer a question: to what extent did we actually learn this language of life and where does that lead us? In this investigation, we would like to begin with a survey to check the knowledge of the students on this topic. Using this information, we plan to adjust the content of our posts to address the needs of the students as precisely as we can. The topics we plan to include are: What was achieved in HGP, how the advances in genome sequencing technology allow us to gather and analyze genomic data on a mass scale, how the scientists were mistaken about non-coding ‘’junk DNA’, the discovery of epigenetics. We are also very keen on investigating the opportunities of the future- starting with groundbreaking discoveries in genetic engineering like CRISPR-Cas9, finishing with the perspective on personalized medicine, wondering whether everyone’s genome will be sequenced and how these data could actually be useful in healthcare. Of course, it is very important to consider the ethical and social implications of such a dynamic change.

Our objectives are:

• To inform students already interested in science about relatively recent developments in genomics and the areas of future advancements;
• To show interdisciplinary links between biology and data science, AI and informatics,
• To tell an interesting and comprehensive story about the social, ethical and political impacts of the genomic revolution
• To get UCL students more aware of UCL’s contribution to global research in this area 

We really hope to get you more interested in genomics and the revolution in medicine that’s in front of us! Welcome to the journey.