Jonathan Eisen, of Tree of Life, has an excellent feature called the “Overselling Genomics Award”. Here, I am gonna scoop him and hand out something similar, at least based on the heading.
A genome may reduce your carbon footprint
This somewhat rhetorical title must excite many scientists, particularly those with ongoing research on biomass, feedstock development, and lignocellulosic breakdown/fermention. With the costs of sequencing rapidly decreasing, and with the infrastructure now developed for almost anyone with access to a computer to cheaply store, access, and analyze sequence information, emphasis will increasingly be placed on ways to apply genome data to real world problems such as reducing dependency on fossil fuel. For the efficient production of bioenergy, this may be accomplished through development of improved feedstocks. This article will consider more closely the impact of very cheap sequence data (approximately 1USD per genome) on improvement of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a perennial grass well suited to biomass production.
Wow, $1 per genome? That would be sweet!
So – what are you giving them …?
Oh – and this is not scooping. This is definitely a virtual collaboration.
Ok, sounds fair :).