Illuminating human disease
Genomics is laying the groundwork for a new generation of diagnostics and therapeutics, built on our growing understanding of the biological mechanisms of disease. At the Ó³»´«Ã½, biologists, chemists, physicians, mathematicians, computational biologists, and software engineers are using systematic, unbiased approaches to identify the root causes of disease and find new opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Learn more about #HowWeScience.
Genomic epidemiology
Using genomics to understand and track the spread of pathogens, and bring them under control.
For more than 150 years, doctors and researchers have relied on epidemiology to track disease outbreaks and epidemics, identify the responsible pathogens, and understand how best to stop their spread. As genomic technologies and analytical tools grow in power and speed, they are becoming an increasingly important part of the epidemiologist's toolkit.
By sequencing the DNA of pathogen samples from patients, scientists can learn a great deal about an outbreak’s origins, how it spreads, how it evolves, and which treatments and strategies may contain it. In this way, genomics can help guide public health authorities' decisions about how best to deploy their resources and efforts.
