The original Mandelbrot, a 2D object, has been translated into a 3D object called the Mandelbulb. The results are breathtaking.
Should we stop sequencing genomes?
Sharon Begley of Newsweek says it’s high time we stop, and turn all of our attention to determining the function of the unknown genes that we’ve already sequenced. Apparently, it was the recent publication of the cucumber sequence that ended it for her. (Why the cucumber, and not the turkey, say? No idea.)
I don’t completely disagree with Ms. Begley; however, it is important to note that functional annotation gets a huge boost from homology (we can transfer function from a known gene to unknown genes that are homologous). Homology, in turn gets a huge boost from…having lots of genomes to analyze. So, in one sense, putting the brakes on genome sequencing is likely to impede functional annotation. In addition, we have a lot to learn about how biological systems work - seeing the forest instead of the trees. Having more genomes in hand is akin to bringing that forest into focus.
