I was reading an article today about the progress of gene expression analysis over the years which is very relevant to the topics we are discussing in class! As we know, sequencing has increased from 10,000 bases per day to around a billion base pairs a day and the price has been cut significantly, almost reaching the $1000 mark. With prices and time cut, this allows whole genome sequencing (WGS) to be utilized in diagnoses and treatments like cancer. Currently, WGS is helping in the study of the genetics of acral melanoma (20% lower survival rate than non-acral melanoma) in order to create an effective treatment. With WGS, researchers can now measure tumor-specific alterations in chromosome structure, point-mutations and gene expression via a combination of whole genome, whole exome and RNA sequencing. With these approaches, it is hopeful that treatments will be personalized in the future. The “improvement” of genome sequencing over the years is very exciting, and there will undoubtably be more applications and technologies in the years to come!