ABSTRACT
A small group of biological researchers enabled by the US Department of Energy started a revolution in biological research. The revolution created a new paradigm for government support and management of biological research. Teratology, the study of developmental abnormalities, is a particularly difficult area of toxicology to understand at the mechanistic level. This is partly because embryonic differentiation and growth require genes, enzyme systems, hormones, and nearly every other genetic and molecular control to be activated and deactivated in specific chronological orders. For five decades, research on the biological and medical implications of the genetic code has monopolized biophysics, biochemistry, and molecular biology. That research has produced remarkable progress and great, successes. Understanding the roles of genetics in complex diseases such as cancer remains a difficult challenge. In gene sequencing, as in other areas of science, data support, analytical systems, and computational powers are evolving rapidly as new analytical needs lead to technological improvements.
