The other day I visited the Wright Brother’s National Monument in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the location of mankind’s first controlled, powered flight. It was quite inspiring to learn about the ingenuity and persistence of two of America’s great inventors, Orville and Wilbur Wright. The Wright’s feat did not come easily, as is the case of most breakthroughs of significant importance, but instead required an extreme dedication and vision few possess.

While the Wright’s achievement was remarkable in itself, it was equally impressive to contemplate the rapid acceleration of aviation breakthroughs that followed. Although mankind had dreamed about the possibility of flight for hundreds of years prior, it took less than 66 years to progress from the first flight in Kitty Hawk to the first manned mission to the moon. The floodgates were indeed opened.

There are many parallels to the current genomic revolution underway, starting with the discovery of the DNA double helix. We have gone from the cloning of individual genes, to the sequencing of entire genomes, to the cloning of entire organisms. It is exciting to think of the scientific breakthroughs yet to come, each of which will undoubtedly help us better understand the underlying molecular blueprint of life.