Cracking the genetic code of our cities: researchers around the world aim to map the urban genome

Abstract

It is rare to say that one has lived through a revolution, but we are all living through one right now. High-throughput sequencing technologies have become cheaper and more cost-effective over the past decade, moving even faster than Moore’s Law for computer power (doubling every 18 months). Because sequencers are modern-day 'molecular microscopes', scientists believe that we are currently experiencing a scientific revolution similar to the one sparked by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek’s invention of the world’s first light microscope in the 17th century.