The science of biology entered a new era when Watson and Crick unraveled the double helix molecular structure of DNA half a century ago.

The science has come a long way since then, and another new era is upon us. This new era of molecular genetics will have profound effects on society.

Biology had gone through several transformations with evolution and genetics combining to be a strong unifying principle. The double helix added the necessary dimension for biology to enter a rapid-growth phase as physics and chemistry had done after Newton and Lavoisier, respectively.

Although biology is one of three basic sciences, it has lagged behind physics and chemistry in securing a unifying concept. Evolution and genetics provide a platform paradigm for study but not a firm base.

Not anymore. Biology has taken giant leaps since the days of Watson and Crick.

Genetic sequencing technology has led to genetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology and genetic modification/manipulation (GM) gene splicing, which have revolutionized biology.

Gene splicing, for example, has allowed ordinary E. coli bacteria to produce insulin needed by growing numbers of diabetics, who would not be able to afford the medication if it were still extracted from the pancreas of sheep as in days gone by.

Genetic engineering has produced genetically modified crops that have led to current fears and controversies, as well as cloned animals and glowing frogs.

Gene sequencing, or genomics in the scientific community, was developed over the past few decades and spurred by the human genome project that became a national science priority in the 1990s.

Once it became possible to easily and quickly line up the ATCG base pairs of genes, the door was open to use the technique for identification—and not only in legal cases for determining paternity and exonerating death row inmates.

Sequences of the base pairs ATGC that comprise DNA are like a bar code, and sequencing technology is advancing rapidly, making it easier, faster and more accurate.

Many university and government institutions in the United States are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to study an astounding diversity of projects related to genomics. In laboratories around the globe, hundreds of scientists are devoting many millions to their research.

The list of potential uses for genomics would fill this page if not more, but there are some notable examples.

The sequence of mitochondrial DNA is unique to each species, which allows mapping the sequences for much faster identification and classification than the tried-and-true but time-consuming and not particularly accurate method that Linnaeus developed in the mid-18th century.

There are many medical applications such as understanding cancer and recognizing genes that might make an individual more susceptible or more resistant to cancer and other maladies.

Other areas range from finding genes that can convert biomass to fuels and chemicals to quickly identifying and tagging species old and new.

There is no doubt that genomics is the science of the 21st century and little doubt that social change of the magnitude of the industrial revolution will follow, especially when genomics meets electronics and shakes hands with computer chips.