Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has proclaimed April 25 “DNA Day in Georgia.” The recognition is part of the National Institutes of Health DNA Day celebrating the completion of sequencing the human genome 15 years ago. The National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the NIH, is leading a month-long recognition of DNA research, including “15 for 15” advances made possible by genomics. This list is available at the NHGRI website.

The NIH also is mapping DNA-related recognition events around the country, and the map includes a red star in Atlanta for “State Proclamation: DNA Day in Georgia.” Georgia is one of only five states to have such a proclamation. 

Staff from Emory University School of Medicine, the Marcus Autism Center, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta worked with Governor Deal’s office to arrange the proclamation. Chris Gunter, Emory associate professor of pediatrics and human genetics and director of communications operations at Marcus Autism Center was an editor at the journal Nature 15 years ago when the genome sequencing was completed, and she worked with the NHGRI to announce the breakthrough then. This year, she worked with NHGRI to develop its list of 15 genomic advances.

"It was an honor to work with the NHGRI again to celebrate everything that the human genome sequence has made possible,” says Gunter. “For example, we are now able to diagnose some conditions prenatally just by taking blood from the mother's arm, something that seemed like science fiction in 2003. We have also seen millions of people learn more about themselves and their families through DNA testing. It's been an amazing time to be a geneticist, and I'm so glad that April 25 will officially be DNA Day in Georgia."

Stephen Warren, PhD, chair of the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University School of Medicine, and director of Emory’s NIH-supported fragile X research center, is a genomics pioneer. In 1991, Warren led an international team that isolated the FMR1 gene responsible for fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“As someone who was a ‘gene hunter’ prior to the human genome project, says Warren, “it is difficult to put into words the differences between the ‘before’ and ‘after’ world of human genetics. Although there are numerous examples of how the human genome project has changed medicine, the ability to provide seriously ill or disabled patients and families a diagnosis through genomics after a long medical odyssey has had a profound impact.

“We have only scratched the surface of what we will learn in the future,” notes Warren. “Cancer, for example, will increasingly become a manageable disease as we advance our understanding of the genome architecture of individual tumors. I also believe genome sequencing will increasingly uncover genome variation that is protective for certain diseases, allowing for very specific therapeutic targets.”