From time to time new scientific breakthroughs and technologies arise that forever change scientific practice. During the last 50 years, several advances stand out in our minds that – coupled with advances in the computational and computer sciences – have made genomic studies possible. In the brief history of genomics presented here we review the circumstances and consequences of these relatively recent technological revolutions.

Our brief history begins during the years immediately following World War II. It can be argued that the enzyme period that preceded the modern era of molecular biology was ushered in at this time by a small group of physicists and chemists, R. B. Roberts, P. H. Abelson, D. B. Cowie, E. T. Bolton, and J. R. Britton in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. These scientists pioneered the use of radioisotopes for the elucidation of metabolic pathways. This work resulted in a monograph titled Studies of Biosynthesis in Escherichia coli that guided research in biochemistry for the next 20 years and, together with early genetic and physiological studies, helped establish the bacterium E. coli as a model organism for biological research [1]. During this time, most of the metabolic pathways required for the biosynthesis of intermediary metabolites were deciphered and biochemical and genetic methods were developed to identify and characterize the enzymes involved in these pathways.