using the markers as a guide. This strategy would re-
veal not only the sequence coding for polypeptides
but also the control/regulatory regions.
In the summer of 1991, at a congressional brief-
ing on the HGP, J. Craig Venter, a molecular biolo-
gist at the NIH, indicated that he had been sequenc-
ing parts (about three hundred base pairs) of DNA
that were expressed as messenger ribonucleic acid
(mRNA) and coded for polypeptides. Venter and
many other scientists thought that these polypeptide
coding regions, the so-called expressed regions, of
the genome were the most interesting and impor-
tant and should be sequenced first. Venter referred
to his short, three hundred base-pair pieces as ex-
pressed sequence tags (ESTs). This approach would
yield most of the information sought after by the
HGP, and the cost would be substantially less. Fur-
thermore, Venter announced that the NIH planned
to file patent applications on the sequences. Watson,
who opposed patenting, resigned as head of the
NCHGR in 1992 in a dispute with Bernadine Healy,
director of the NIH. He was eventually replaced by
Francis Collins.
In 1996, the NCHGR funded a consortium of six
DNA sequencing centers that included the White-
head Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology, Washington University, Baylor College of
Medicine, the University of Washington, Stanford
University, and The Institute for Genomic Research
(TIGR), a nonprofit sequencing effort established
in 1992 by Venter. The Sanger Sequencing Centre in
the United Kingdom later joined the HGP, allowing
for the establishment of the publicly funded Inter-
national Human Genome Sequencing Consortium
(IHGSC).
Completion of the Project In 1998, Venter an-
nounced the establishment of Celera Genomics, a
private company devoted to DNA sequencing.
Venter claimed that he could sequence the human
genome by 2001. With Venter’s claim, a sequencing
race began between his company and the IHGSC,
which intensified its efforts. Each group claimed
that it could publish a draft of the sequence earlier
than the other. In a June, 2000, meeting at the White
House, the IHGSC and Celera jointly announced a
working draft of the human genome. The draft of
the consortium’s project was published inNatureon
February 15, 2001, while Celera’s draft was pub-
lished inScienceon February 16. The completion of
the project was announced on April 14, 2003, the fif-
tieth anniversary of the publication of the discovery
of the structure of DNA, by the IHGSC. The consor-
tium continues to search for variation within human
genomes and the functions of the genes discovered
by the project.
Impact The sequencing of the human genome has
led to an increased understanding of gene function,
the mechanisms and causations of human genetic
diseases, the extent of variation within the popula-
tion, and humans’ evolutionary relationship with
other organisms.
Further Reading
Davies, Kevin.Cracking the Genome: Inside the Race to
Unlock Human DNA. New York: Free Press, 2001.
Using interviews with Collins and Venter, among
many other scientists, Davies presents a rich story
of the race to sequence the human genome.
“The Human Genome.”Nature409 (February 15,
2001): 745-964. A special issue publishing the
working draft announced in 2000, with a collec-
tion of relevant papers.
“The Human Genome.”Science291 (February 16,
2001): 1145-1434. While the parallel special issue
ofNatureconcentrated on the HGP’s contribu-
tion, this issue concentrated on Celera’s.
Richards, Julia E., and R. Scott Hawley.The Human
Genome: A User’s Guide. 2d ed. Burlington, Mass.:
Elsevier, 2005. A good general overview of genet-
ics written for the layperson.
Ridley, Matt.Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in
Twenty-three Chapters. New York: HarperCollins,- The author examines one gene from each
chromosome (one per chapter) and writes the
history of its role in human development.
Shreeve, James.The Genome War: How Craig Venter
Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. An engaging
narrative about the personalities and politics be-
hind the Human Genome Project.
Charles L. Vigue
See also Alzheimer’s disease; Cancer research; Ge-
netic engineering; Genetics research; Medicine;
Pharmaceutical industry; Science and technology.The Nineties in America Human Genome Project 437