Dr . Richard Durbin has not only developed many innovative technologies in the field of genome biology but has also led numerous international research projects. As a pioneer in the field of bioinformatics, a discipline which combines biology and informatics, he has developed a series of data analysis methods, databases, and formats that underpin much of today’s research involving genomic data. In addition, Dr. Durbin has also played a leadership role in numerous genome sequencing projects that have set milestones in the field of genome biology over a period of more than 30 years.
One of Dr. Durbin's most significant early achievements in the field of genomic biology was leading a project to analyze the first fully sequenced animal genome—that of the nematode C. elegans—from a data analysis and processing perspective, including developing the database that served as the foundation for the project. He also played a significant role in developing a series of technologies related to a data analysis method called the hidden Markov model, which remains pivotal in the analysis of genomic data. Among these research achievements, the Pfam database of protein family domains, for example, continue to be extensively used in genomic biology and serve as the foundation for a wide range of molecular biology research. These technologies also played a key role in the analysis of the human genome sequence, one of the most important achievements in the field of genome biology. Dr. Durbin made significant contributions to the Human Genome Project, including leading the group that identified protein coding genes in the genome. He also published one of the most influential textbooks on computational genomics, Biological Sequence Analysis, making a major contribution to education in the field.
After the completion of the human genome sequence, Dr. Durbin quickly recognized the importance of population genome analysis, which studies the diversity of genomes within a single species, and has consistently spearheaded the direction of genome biology research, including conducting early studies of yeast population genome analysis. As massive parallel sequencing technology emerged in genome biology and the volume of data grew exponentially, Dr. Durbin also worked to develop data analysis methods to efficiently analyze and map the vast amount of data produced by this new technology to genome sequences, including developing the bwa alignment tool, which is still widely used in the genome biology field today. He subsequently jointly led the 1000 Genomes Project and the UK10K Project, both of which aimed to uncover genetic diversity in human populations.
In parallel with these accomplishments, Dr. Durbin's contributions have extended to the development of many important data analysis methods in genome biology, including standardized data formats such as the widely used SAM/BAM and VCF formats, as well as software that enables efficient identification of genetic variations and polymorphisms in genome sequences. In recent years, he has also contributed to the development of theories and methods applied to population genetics, developing PSMC and MSMC, powerful information analysis methods that enable population history to be inferred from limited genome data. These methods developed by Dr. Durbin have had a significant impact beyond biology, influencing fields such as archaeology, including helping uncover that a phenomenon known as bottlenecking, which reduces the size of human populations, occurred when non-African humans left Africa around 50,000 years ago. In more recent years, Dr. Durbin has also played a leadership role in a number of international research projects, including those aiming to analyze the comprehensive genome sequences of the diverse organisms on earth, and he is expected to continue making important contributions to the field of genome biology in the future.