Gene Myers

Gene Myers is a computer scientist whose research focuses on algorithms and computational biology. Gene is currently group leader at the new Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Gene came to the JFRC from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a professor of computer science.

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Before coming to Berkeley in 2003, Myers worked at Celera Genomics, where he was involved in the sequencing of the human genome, as well as the genomes of Drosophila and mouse. In particular, Myers advocated the use of the whole genome shotgun sequencing technique. Prior to that, Gene was on the faculty of the University of Arizona for 18 years.

Myers was one of the original developers of the BLAST algorithm, which is very likely the most widely used software tool in the field of bioinformatics. Along with Udi Manber, Myers invented the suffix array data structure.

Gene was voted the most influential in bioinformatics in 2001 by Genome Technology Magazine and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003. In 2004 he won the International Max-Planck Research Prize.

Comments on the complexity of genome

His quote "The system is extremely complex. It's like it was designed. There's a huge intelligence there. I don't see that as being unscientific. Others may, but not me." [1] has been misinterpreted to mean that Gene Myers is a proponent of Intelligent Design, which he decidedly is not [2].