Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. cmcbride@mail.nih.gov
Colleen McBride and colleagues argue that progress on a multifaceted research agenda is necessary to reap the full benefits and avoid the potential pitfalls of the emerging area of personalized genomics. They also outline one element of this agenda, the Multiplex Initiative, which has been underway since 2006.