What is your field of research – briefly described?

 

Genomics, genetics, and computational biology – the process of determining the DNA sequence of an individual and understanding the relationship of the DNA sequence to features of an individual. I study many different species, including humans.

 

 

What are the research challenges in your field?

 

Genomes of an individual encode the information for all the molecules used from the very first cell to the final organism, and as such encode the majority of information behind living organisms. However, our ability to understand this code is in its infancy. I help to understand how information in DNA encodes for molecules and regulation, and how the variation of DNA impacts individual differences.

 

 

Why is this research area particularly interesting?

 

Genomes being the fundamental source of information for life provides a remarkable, digital, starting point to understanding the complexity of all living organisms. It has become increasingly easier and cheaper to sequence genomes, but our ability to understand the information is far harder.

 

 

What do you expect from your membership in the Royal Academy?

 

I wish to strengthen my ties with Denmark. I have many active collaborations with Danish scientists and, due to the professionalism and the vision of the Danish electronic health registries, the Danish population is one of the most well studied groups of humans in the world. I have already learnt many things from studying Danish individuals and I hope to continue to do so in the meantime.

 

 

Tell us a bit about the person behind the researcher.

 

I have been studying genomes since I was 19. I was involved in the analysis of the first draft of the human genome in 2000 and this topic has fascinated me ever since. As well as being an active researcher, I am current Deputy Director General of EMBL, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and so have an active role in shaping and promoting molecular biology across Europe.