Today we’ve reached the fifth and final part of our special health care series. Over the past week we’ve explored psychedelics, robotics, AI, and obesity drugs. Each carries game-changing potential. But if I had to pick the single most transformational force for the next decade of medicine, it would be genomics.

Genomics is the science of reading, writing, and editing DNA - the very blueprint of life. And thanks to rapid advances, what once took decades and billions of dollars can now be done in days at a fraction of the cost. This is where medicine shifts from “sick care” to true precision health care.

When the Human Genome Project wrapped up in 2003, sequencing one human genome cost roughly $2.7 billion. Today, it costs less than $1,000 - and ARK Invest projects that number will continue to plunge.

The ARK chart above shows a 10¹⁰-fold drop in sequencing cost since the 1980s, outpacing even Moore’s Law in computing.

There there is DNA synthesis - essentially writing genetic code. The cost has fallen by a factor of 100,000 and could decline another 100× by 2030. It’s the equivalent of turning a library the size of Manhattan into a paperback you can slip in your pocket.

Equally important: analysis has kept pace. According to ARK’s research, the time to analyze a genome has shrunk from 180 days to less than 10 minutes. Put differently, for the cost of analyzing one genome in 2001, we can now process 1.4 billion genomes. This is the scale that makes genomics not just viable, but indispensable.

Costs and speed are just half the story. The real accelerant is artificial intelligence. 

Take AlphaFold, the AI model developed to predict protein structures. In 2018, it could only predict ~60 million structures. By 2024, that number exceeded 1 billion, with productivity gains of more than 500×. This has cut discovery timelines dramatically.

There are now “virtual cells” - created by combining single-cell genomics with AI - let researchers run experiments in silico. Meanwhile, self-driving labs that integrate robotics and machine learning are delivering productivity gains of nearly 200×. In short, biology is turning into software.

Perhaps the most powerful takeaway when you consider the future of genomics is money. Because as we know most decisions are based around money.

Traditional drug development takes 13 years on average and costs $2.4 billion. With AI in the mix, that timeline could fall to 8 years, with costs slashed by 75%.

Now layer in the difference between chronic treatments and one-time cures. Estimates show cures can be worth 20× more because they deliver upfront cash flows and avoid years of competitive erosion. For investors, that means higher returns and stronger margins for the winners.

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This isn’t just theory - it’s investable today. Here are a few buckets to watch:

Each of these represents a piece of the genomics “stack.” Together, they are positioned to benefit as sequencing gets cheaper, analysis gets faster, and AI unlocks new cures.

We are standing at the dawn of the genomics age. Costs are collapsing, AI is rewriting the rules of discovery, and cures are set to disrupt the trillion-dollar chronic care industry.

As I close out this five-part health care series, I believe genomics is the thread that ties it all together. Psychedelics, robotics, obesity drugs, and AI are reshaping medicine - but genomics is the foundation that will power breakthroughs across them all.

Investors who get in now, before genomics becomes mainstream, have a chance to capture generational gains.

Here’s to the future, 
Matt McCall
Editor, Market Insights