I have been very fortunate to have been involved in the field of bacterial genomics from an early time point. This has meant that I have been involved in the analysis and publication of some of the more "headline" and important human pathogens, e.g., Yersinia pestis (plague), Salmonella typhi (typhoid), and Mycobacterium leprae (leprosy). These organisms also tend to have large associated scientific communities and, combined with the profile of the organisms, the level of citation reflects this.

The advances in technology and experience gained whilst sequencing the human genome and that of C. elegans meant that sequencing bacterial genomes was a much less daunting prospect. For me personally, I saw the gains that were possible from having a whole genome sequence during my post-doctorate research and wanted to be part of this leap forward in our understanding of bacterial genetics.

I think that we will be analyzing and re-analyzing the data locked within any genome for longer than I will be able to be involved. Some of the benefits are immediate such as being able to see your research within a whole-genome context. Areas such as vaccine development and the identification of novel therapeutic targets, have and will continue to benefit from whole genome sequence data. However, I think the less tangible outcomes relate to the way research groups operate. I think that the emphasis will be on collaborations between groups with particular specialisms in order to cope with the volume of data. Also traditional boundaries of work relating to a particular species or genera will fall as people use more comparative methods to decipher facets of their pet organism’s biology.

We are currently still in the first flush of bacterial sequencing; so far we have concentrated on looking at the most important (with regard to human and animal health) and diverse microbes. I think in the next 10 years we will use high-throughput sequencing to look at more local variations within bacterial populations addressing such issues as the changes that lead to, for example, sporadic outbreaks or the subtleties of differing host or tissue tropisms between apparently highly related organisms.

Since we still only know the function of just over half of the genes in the E. coli genome (the most-studied organism on the planet) my advice would be to get stuck in, there are still many marvels of evolution that are waiting to be discovered. However, like any new field there are benefits and pitfalls; the public DNA databases contain some good and trustworthy data but also a lot of rubbish, so never assume that information derived from these DNA information storehouses is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.