Advent of the new era in genome technologies

Abstract

In this presentation, I would like to discuss the advent of the new era in genome-related technologies. In fact, a remarkable progress was made in this field in recent years, which may make a substantial effect on the future direction of genome research in Japan. First, I would like to look back at the rapid spread of single-cell analysis. The maturity of the preceding single-cell is further traced back to the dramatic expansion and spread of the sequencing capabilities of next-generation sequencers. Without the ability to analyze the whole human genome on a scale of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people, it would have been impossible to perform genetic analysis on tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of cells. However, as the single-cell technologies transforms into the gene expression analysis which preserves spatial position information, it is undergoing a major transformation into measurement which does not depend on sequences. The data produced here is mainly image data rather than the sequence data. Inevitably, there will be a major turning point in the way we have used data and databases. As a turning points in the next-generation sequencing era, which has swept the fields of medicine and biology for 10 years, I would like to share with the participants the enthusiasm of the current new era of genomic science. I hope this symposium should provide an opportunity to exchange opinions, rather than just providing information from my perspectives.