The question of the year for genetics researchers is: what would you do if it became possible to sequence the equivalent of a full human genome for $1,000?

The sequencing of the equivalent of an entire human genome for $1,000 has been announced as a goal for the genetics community, and new technologies suggest that reaching this goal is a matter of when, rather than if. What then? In celebration of its upcoming 15th anniversary, Nature Genetics is asking prominent geneticists to weigh in on this question: what would you do if this sequencing capacity were available immediately? The Nature Genetics ‘Question of the Year’ website, updated monthly, reveals the answers — in the process offering a glimpse of the future of genetics. Answers so far posted on the site include Francis S. Collins, George Church, Stephen J. O’Brien, Evan Eichler and Jonathan Pritchard.

Also for genetics researchers and those interested in the subject, the February issue of Nature Reviews Genetics is free access for the whole month. With an impact factor of 19.211, Nature Reviews Genetics is the world’s top-rated genetics journal.