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Julie Segre is interested in what makes us itch. Bringing together the fields of dermatology, immunology, and microbiology, Dr. Segre, a senior investigator at the National Human Genome Research Institute, is studying the relationship between people and the bacteria and other microscopic organisms (microbes) living on their skin. Dr. Segre, who spoke at this year’s “Beyond the Genome” conference here in Boston, is especially interested in people with eczema and the unique microbial populations they harbor.

Last week, here on the blog we told you about some of the exciting results to come from the recently completed pilot phase of the 1000 Genomes Project. Scientists in the consortium sequenced several hundred genomes and captured even more of the variation among human genomes than had been previously known. The project aims to not only employ “next-generation” sequencing technologies at a scale never before achieved, it also aims to create the best map of human genetic variation so far.