In principle, full genome sequencing can provide the raw nucleotide sequence of an individual organism's DNA at a single point in time. However, further analysis must be performed to provide the biological or medical meaning of this sequence, such as how this knowledge can be used to help prevent disease. Methods for analyzing sequencing data are being developed and refined.
Because sequencing generates a lot of data (for example, there are approximately six billion base pairs in each human diploid genome), its output is stored electronically and requires a large amount of computing power and storage capacity.
While analysis of WGS data can be slow, it is possible to speed up this step by using dedicated hardware.