Biology has undergone a complete revolution in recent years because of the impact of genome sequencing. Complete read-outs of the genetic information of organisms from almost every branch of the tree of life are now available. Moreover, the rate at which new genome sequences are completed will increase because of recent advances in the DNA sequencing technology. This symposium aims to examine the impact that genomics is having, and will continue to have, on science, medicine, and agriculture. In science, it will discuss the new technologies that have been developed to study gene action and interaction in a comprehensive manner. It will also demonstrate how genomics has refined our views of the process of evolution and enhanced our ability to carry out experiments to directly elucidate its mechanisms on a molecular level. The use of functional genomics technology to study the mechanisms involved in animal development will also be discussed. The comprehensive nature of genomics and functional genomics has allowed the production of computer reconstructions of metabolic and other networks in the cell and ushered in the new era of systems biology, which holds such promise for the improvement of biotechnological processes, agriculture, and medicine. Finally, the impact of genomic techniques in human and plant genetics will be presented, and it will be explained how this will help us feed ourselves in a changing climate and treat the complex diseases that afflict us.