Germline engineering
The most extreme suggested use for the human genome data is editing the DNA inheritance bequeathed from one generation to the next.
Such a scenario involves identifying an abnormal gene and then correcting it in the cells which are used to pass genetic information to offspring - eggs and sperm.
No subsequent generation would then be afflicted by their ancestors' gene defect.
However, such irreversible tampering with the code for life will only be allowed after major ethical reservations and safety concerns over possible unexpected results of the changes, are addressed.
Hope or hype
There is little doubt that the revelation of the human genome will benefit healthcare in the short and long term.
But many of the treatments will be expensive and will do nothing to avoid the damage caused by viral and bacterial diseases.
It has been suggested that a brave new world awaits us in which all ailments can be monitored from a daily mouth swab inserted into a DNA reader in our bathroom cabinets.
But Dr Ian Purvis says: "It could be that like, a long time in the future, but that is based on the rather arrogant view humanity has that it will understand everything we find - and we never have in the past."
By BBC News Online's Dr Damian Carrington