Before Dr. Leroy E. Hood's development of the automated DNA sequencer, it took some 30 years to sequence the genome of the common cold virus. Today, thanks to his efforts, a genome of a virus the same size can be sequenced in a matter of hours. The automated DNA sequencer has made a significant contribution to the mapping of the human genome and has revolutionized the field of genomics.

With a research interest in gene families, Hood recognized the need for new tools to collect data on molecular diversity, tools that he focused on developing in the 1980's while at California Institute of Technology. Integrating new ideas in chemistry, engineering, and software, he led a team that developed the sequencer, which he then evolved into a commercial product that could be used in any laboratory by the decade's end.

An inventor, scholar and visionary, Hood has been a pioneer in “bringing engineering to biology” through his invention and commercialization of many of the key analytic instruments in use today, and through his successful application of these instruments to some of the most fundamental problems in modern biology and medicine.

Hood was an early pioneer in promoting the Human Genome Project and served on a National Academies committee that ultimately made the recommendations that led to the project's start in 1990. He has won numerous awards in recognition for his work, including the Albert Lasker Award (1987), Kyoto Prize (2002), the Lemelson-MIT Prize (2003), and the Heinz Award (2006). He is one of seven elected to all three membership organizations of the National Academy of Sciences (1982).