Nobel Laureate James D. Watson, the scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA, became the first person to receive his personal genome sequenced - all three billion base pairs mapped and provided to him in a computer print out. The cost of the undertaking was reported at $1 million, and took two months to complete.

A million dollars for a map of all your genes is way out of reach for most people. The National Institutes of Health would like bring down the price of rendering your genetic blueprint to $1,000 by the year 2014.

The potential, the ethical debate, the quest for perfection...