Gregor Mendel's groundbreaking work on pea plants provided a foundation for modern genetics and molecular biology.

While our genome has all the genetic information necessary for us to be humans, both nature and nurture are important in determining who we are.

People are genetically similar to other people and to other organisms. For example, 45% of the genes found in a fruit fly are also found in humans, and we share approximately 96% of our genome with chimpanzees.

The Human Genome Project, which made history by mapping the human genome, is has revolutionized basic medical and pharmaceutical research and its clinical application. Today, researchers are hard at work on the Human Microbiome Project, tracking the bacteria in our bodies.

Next-generation DNA-sequencing approaches - a field called metagenomics - provide tools to identify most of the microbe species in a sample without requiring the individual species to be cultured.

New technologies such as microarrays and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), give scientists advanced ways to study living things.

Geneticists study model organisms (such as mice, fruit flies, worms and bacteria) to understand how genes function. Many genes in these model organisms are also found in humans and can be used to study genetic disorders.

Increased knowledge about genetics will confront individuals and society with ethical decisions. Sound decisions require an accurate understanding of the science involved, a careful consideration of all the stakeholders' views and a strong ethical framework.