A discussion of the limitations of a single, static reference genome
/Buffalo gave us spicy wings and the ‘book of life.’ Here’s why that’s undermining personalized medicine
“The human reference genome, largely completed in 2001, has achieved near-mythic status. It is “the book of life,” the “operating manual for Homo sapiens.” But the reference genome falls short in ways that have become embarrassing, misleading, and, in the worst cases, emblematic of the white European dominance of science — shortcomings that are threatening the dream of genetically based personalized medicine.“
