For over fifty years, University of Utah has been a leader in human genetics, a field that is making precision medicine possible today. Ray Gesteland, Ph.D., professor emeritus in human genetics, describes the perfect storm of people and resources at the University of Utah that have since spurred discoveries of the genetic causes behind cystic fibrosis, colon cancer, and many more. In a second interview, Gesteland talks about the Alta Meeting and other events that led to the discovery of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), a tool that made mapping the human genome possible.