I have found one of the more interesting people in James Shreeve's The Genome War to be Eugene Myers. Myers is the man behind the code that processed and assembled the genetic data produced from Celera's load of sequencers. He spearheaded the team that came up the idea for the algorithm and then the code itself. This code was arguably the most important piece of Celera's research operation. Without the code, all Craig Venter's team of scientists would have had was strips of raw genetic code generated by the sequencers. Myers code allowed Celera to have a genome instead of scattered genes.
Myers was an important figure not only because of his work on the code. He coauthored a paper with Jim Weber about the whole genome shotgun sequencing technique. This original idea was partly Myers' brainchild. He was cast out by the public project for thinking such an ambitious method could provide the quality of results they were looking for. Venter's ambition and resources allowed Myers' idea to be fully realized. Not only was it possible to use the whole genome shotgun method but it was astoundingly accurate due to Myers' computer program.
Gene Myers had a hand in every step of sequencing the genome. He had an idea for how it could be done. He developed the process to make it possible and he sold it the academic community in a way only a man passionate about his work could have. Gene Myers was the true champion of the whole genome shotgun method. He did not follow the idea as a fad as Craig Venter did, giving it support only after his ambitions outreached the confines of his lab. Myers stood by his opinion and gave the method his full support through its fruition. Myers needed Venter only as a way to fund the project and be a public personality. Venter took care of the public, the money and the business people he involved. Myers was the head of the academic efforts of Celera. This is proven especially true after the company's evaluation of Craig's spending. Venter had more fun hyping his pet project than actually working on it. Myers put blood, sweat and tears into developing his code and defending his idea everyday, hardly stopping to rest and nearly sacrificing his marriage.
References
Shreeve, James. The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World. Ballantine Books: New York, 2004. Print.
Yang, Sarah. Gene Myers, computer algorithm pioneer in human genome sequencing, to join UC Berkley faculty. University of California, Berkley. 29 Oct. 2002. Web. http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2002/10/29_Myers.html
Wow, thank you for making this post. I honestly never made Gene Myers out to be more than just a brain in the process, but now I realize that you are absolutely correct. He wanted so badly to prove that the shotgun method worked that he poured his soul into the project. It's truly amazing how utterly overlooked he was. He was the true mastermind behind the project's success, and I believe everyone should see that.
ReplyDeleteHonesty, this is a great and eye-opening post. Because the novel is centered around Venter, it is easy to look past some of the major and necessary key players involved in this project. Myers was extremely knowledgable and important to Venter's success. I don't think you can give Myers full credit though, I truly believe it was a team effort that allowed the genome to be sequenced. Yes, he did provide the insight behind the shotgun technique, but countless others provided important information and effort into the project too. Overall, great post! It was nice to see a post that didn't center around Venter.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else, what an eye-opening post. The novel did center around Venter and truthfully didn't give enough credit to the other "players" in the game. I am always amazed to see what others think and pick up on that I totally missed. Venter did fess up to having a talent of hiring people far more intelligent than himself. I would agree that Gene Myers would be one of those individuals. Gene Meyer truly is one the ignored masterminds in this entire project. Again, great job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the novel really does put the most emphasis on Venter. At the same time, a project of this enormity can and probably should have more than one central person to make it function. Myers is definitely a leader of it, fully necessary for the effort to get anywhere, but Smith is certainly another. Without his DNA libraries, the program would not have any use. It was, as you said, a team effort.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting how many people get forgotten on Venter's path towards the genome sequence. Like you said, without Gene Myers, there wouldn't be a genome for Celera, but rather scattered genes. This is because Myers was able to create the code that processed and assembled the genetic data produced from Celera's load of sequencers. However, without Venter's's funds, Myers might not have accomplished as much as he did but vice versa for Venter, without Myers' method, Venter might not have accomplished completing the Celera genome.
ReplyDeleteYes! I know people overlook all the other scientists in Venter's team due to his figurehead status, but these are the scientists that accelerated and completed the genome project. I wish they would have been given a little more credit in the novel, but where Venter lack's the ideas and methods, they lack the charisma and charm. It's very interesting how the more outspoken person gains credit for something that a whole team of scientists produced, but that is the media and reporting system I guess. I think here is another place where you see the difference between academic and economic aspects especially since these scientists were not as interested in publicity as they were passionate in their work.
ReplyDeleteI really love this post. Many times, the people who are most important to a project are overlooked or not given ample recognition simply because they were not loud enough. Craig Venter was the voice behind the project, and he received the publicity. However, there were many other key players who did just as much if not more work than Venter. But without Myers, the project would not have finished as quickly, if they were able to finish it at all. Myers truly was the brains behind the project.
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