- Posted on 25 Apr 2013
- 2-minute read
25 April is now known as International DNA Day. In 2013 it marks 60 years since James Watson, Francis Crick and colleagues published papers in the journal Nature on the structure of Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. The discovery revolutionized science in many areas from health and medicine through to crime and led to a number of scientific advances.
Commenting on the impact of this discovery, Professor Ian Charles, Director of the ithree institute at the University of Technology Sydney, who spent his early career at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge UK where Watson and Crick worked, said:
Today, with the ability to sequence multiple microbial genomes in a day, we are making important breakthroughs in our understanding of the complexity of the microbiome (that is entire microbial populations) and the vital role that bacteria play not just in disease but, more importantly, in health. Being able to read the DNA code is providing vital insight into the mechanisms by which bacteria become resistant to drugs and this is helping us to address the challenge that antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose to modern medicine.
Today, with the ability to sequence multiple microbial genomes in a day, we are making important breakthroughs in our understanding of the complexity of the microbiome (that is entire microbial populations) and the vital role that bacteria play not just in disease but, more importantly, in health. Being able to read the DNA code is providing vital insight into the mechanisms by which bacteria become resistant to drugs and this is helping us to address the challenge that antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose to modern medicine.
Professor Charles featured in a news story on the ABC — video and sound clips are available on the ABC1 TV News and Radio Australia websites.