A Remarkable Road

My mother was the one who first got me excited about genetics. She was a graduate and a biology teacher in Cambridge, UK, at the time of the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953. She passed on to me the excitement about the discovery, well before molecular biology was part of the curriculum in schools.

What initially grabbed my attention about molecular biology was the ability to probe down at great detail into how things work. Even now, I find an incomplete picture frustrating.

After obtaining my doctorate in molecular biology at the University of Oxford, I carried out postdoctoral research at Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospital in London. We were examining the molecular genetic basis and mutations spectra of hemophilia, muscular dystrophy, and several immune disorders. During that time, my interest in human genetics and its application to disease intensified.

After a couple of years as a lecturer in genetics, I was approached by Sir John Sulston to become a founding member of the Sanger Centre in Hixton, UK, in 1993. I remained there for 12 years, as Head of Human Genetics. My work there highlighted for me the need for a new technology for sequencing faster and less expensively than is currently possible.

I became involved in the start-up biotechnology company Solexa at the time it was founded by two lecturers in the Chemistry department at the University of Cambridge. The company set out to develop a new DNA sequencing technology, dubbed sequencing-by-synthesis, which involves anchoring tens of millions of DNA molecules to a chip, where they are simultaneously sequenced and analyzed. Last year, it was clear that the time was right to apply such technology to real genetic problems. I joined the team at Solexa to devote all my energies to this new grand challenge.

There are many similarities between the two environments. My days are just as full as always. Both places have fundamentally important long-term goals that provide equally difficult and absorbing challenges. The major difference is that in Solexa the whole company is focused on one goal. The Sanger's human genetics department had a much more diverse, multidisciplinary program. Here at Solexa, I have the same focus day in and day out and can give it the benefit of my full attention.

Ironically, since joining the company I have had less of a managerial role. My function is more purely scientific and strategic. At the Sanger, I led a department of 100 staff members, overseen by nine group leaders working on the different projects. I also spent time as a member of the Institute's Board and participating in several international consortia. Here at Solexa, I have more direct contact with many of the scientists, and I am much closer to the raw data and the research program.

When I look back on my career to date there are many moments that signaled major scientific achievements, such as the sequencing of the first human chromosome and the generation of the human genome draft. These were celebrations involving many people. Each time, we toasted not only the importance of the work, but also the success of the international teamwork involved.

Other exciting moments that are prominent in my memories include witnessing events that turned the course of science. The decision to set up the Sanger Centre (today, called the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) was one such moment. Under the leadership of Sulston and many others, it became a place that fostered correctness not only in terms of scientific accuracy, but also in a moral sense. It sent out a very important message about the value of altruism and excellence and was an unrivalled place for professional training and personal development.

The starting of the Sanger Centre was a huge turning point not only for my own career but for genome science as a whole. It clearly paved the way for many critically important initiatives, such as finding out how to sequence the worm to applying what we learned to sequence the human genome. Embarking on the human genome was a momentous decision; it was great fun to have been involved in it and to agonize over its implications. We took a leap of faith and embarked on a remarkable road.

When I am not at work, I spend time with my wife and three children. I try to find time renovate and maintain my 90-year old canal boat. I have also just started a marine aquarium at home. I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it is absorbing to have something new to pursue.