In 1953, two young scientists published the structure of DNA, a Nobel Prize winning discovery that gave birth to the Interdisciplinary field of genomics. Beginning in 1990, scientists around the world embarked upon the Human Genome Project, with the goal of determining the composition of the entire human genome. The project is now complete, but there is so much more to learn from the genome: how our bodies function, how to prevent diseases, what makes different species unique, and even how life evolved on earth.

To ensure that future scientists, physicians and policy makers are prepared to take full advantage of the genomic revolution, the National Research Council issued a report (BIO2010) calling upon academic institutions to alter the way their students prepare for post-baccalaureate education in the health care professions.