Let's make this birthday one to remember.

71 years old (Born on December 31, 1953)

Happy Birthday, Eugene Myers! Imagine a world without your brilliant contribution to science—no rapid DNA alignment searches? No quick answers from BLAST? Impossible to fathom. Thanks for saving researchers everywhere from endless caffeine-fueled nights staring hopelessly at genome sequences. Truly, you're the superhero bioinformatics never knew it needed but desperately appreciates.

Congratulations also on your inspiring career, notably pioneering developments in genome sequencing at Celera Genomics and countless team projects cited more times than one could count (without a tool you helped design). May today's celebration align perfectly—quickly identified as one of life's most enjoyable moments. Here's to another year of impressive hits and exceptional alignments!