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The Human Genome Project

RECENT COVERAGE
The Other Secrets of the Genome
By NICHOLAS WADE
(February 18, 2001) Biologists have taken their first look at the human genome and report that its 30,000 genes, though fewer than expected, will help decipher the genetic basis of many diseases and in time revolutionize medicine. But what will the genome tell us about human nature?

Genome's Riddle: Few Genes, Much Complexity
By NICHOLAS WADE
(February 13, 2001) The human genome is the most precious body of information imaginable. Yet the biologists who reported their first analysis of the decoded sequence have found as much perplexity as enlightenment.

For the Microscopic Genome, It's a Big Moment in Biology
By NATALIE ANGIER
(February 13, 2001) In keeping with the current fashionableness of all things Extreme — Extreme Football, Extreme Wrestling and Extremely Large Tax Cuts — scientists now present the Extreme Genome.

Grad Student Becomes Gene Effort's Unlikely Hero
By NICHOLAS WADE
(February 13, 2001) A surprising hero helped the consortium of academic scientists decoding the human genome to avoid a drubbing by its rival, the Celera Genomics. James Kent is a graduate student at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

The Silence Is Broken and the Genome Speaks
By NICHOLAS WADE
(February 13, 2001) After yesterday's news conference at which scientists described the human genome, a reporter for a radio talk show managed to record the following interview.

Human Genome Online Tour
By NICHOLAS WADE
(February 13, 2001) People who have Internet connections can treat themselves to an astounding tour of their species' genome, courtesy of the U.C.S.C. Web browser written by James Kent.

Double Helix With a Twist
By ANDREW POLLACK
(February 13, 2001) Now that it turns out there might be only around 30,000 genes, what exactly have all the companies promising access to large numbers of genes been selling?

Analysis of Human Genome Discovers Far Fewer Genes
By NICHOLAS WADE
(February 12, 2001) The publication this week of the first interpretations of the human genome sequence is the first step in a new era, one in which knowledge of the human genome sequence will enable physicians to recognize and treat disease at its genetic roots.

Genome Analysis Shows Humans Survive on Low Number of Genes
By NICHOLAS WADE
(February 11, 2001) Two rival teams of scientists this week present their first interpretations of the human genome. The teams report that humans do not possess many more genes than other, less complex, organisms.

Human Genome Project Director Peers Into the Future
By REUTERS
(January 19, 2001) The director of the federal government's Human Genome Project is predicting that "a number of big surprises" will come out of genetics research in the coming weeks.

Celera to Charge Other Companies to Use Its Genome Data
By GINA KOLATA
(December 8, 2000) A company that deciphered the human genome has just submitted a paper for publication. But, in a highly unusual move, the company will not be adhering to the customary practice of simultaneously depositing its gene sequence data in a public repository freely available to all.

Scientists Rough Out Humanity's 50,000-Year-Old Story
By NICHOLAS WADE
(November 14, 2000) From what had seemed like irreversible oblivion, archaeologists and population geneticists believe they are on the verge of retrieving a record of human history stretching back almost 50,000 years.

Teaching the Body to Heal Itself
By NICHOLAS WADE
(November 7, 2000) With the new tools of genomics and stem cell biology, some biologists hope to develop a set of novel treatments. "Regenerative medicine," as some call it, would depend on the same agents the body itself uses to repair its own fabric.

Newfound Protein Touches Off Race for New Therapies
By NICHOLAS WADE
(October 31, 2000) A long-elusive protein that could have a serious impact in medicine has recently come to light because of the availability of the human genome sequence.

$58 Million Race Is On to Decode Mouse Genome by February (October 6, 2000)
With the work on the human genome essentially complete, the National Institutes of Health and others said that they would spend $58 million to decode the genome of the mouse by February.

After Deciphering the Map, the Next Task Is a Guidebook for the Human Genome (September 12, 2000)
Eric S. Lander felt a special pride in the completion of the first draft of the genome, because his scientific group at the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research was a major contributor to the effort.

Do Races Differ? Not Really, DNA Shows (August 22, 2000)
The more closely that researchers examine the human genome -- the complement of genetic material encased in the heart of almost every cell of the body -- the more most of them are convinced that the standard labels used to distinguish people by "race" have little or no biological meaning.

Agriculture Takes Its Turn in the Genome Spotlight (July 18, 2000)
In a scientific first, and a coup for science in Brazil, a team of more than 200 researchers there has for the first time deciphered the complete DNA sequence of an organism that causes a plant disease.

The Next Chapter in the Book of Life: Structural Genomics (July 4, 2000)
Now that scientists have effectively determined the complete sequence of human DNA, research teams are gearing up for a follow-on project that many say will be every bit as ambitious and difficult -- but also full of promise for medical research.

U.S. Hopes to Stem Rush Toward Patenting of Genes (June 28, 2000)
Long before scientists had completed the task of reading the human genome, parts of it had already been claimed for commerce. In what has often been compared to a land grab, companies and universities have filed for patents on hundreds of thousands of genes and gene fragments.

Finding Gold in Scientific Pay Dirt (June 28, 2000)
The sequencing of the human genome is often described as a triumph akin to landing on the moon. For investors, that might not be the most comforting analogy. Three decades after Apollo 11, no one has yet made a profit going to the moon.

Scientists Complete Rough Draft of Human Genome (June 27, 2000)
In an achievement that represents a pinnacle of human self-knowledge, two rival groups of scientists said in a joint announcement that they had effectively deciphered the genome, the set of genetic instructions that defines the human organism.
Text of the White House Statements on the Human Genome Project

Now, the Hard Part: Putting the Genome to Work (June 27, 2000)
The human genome is in hand. The set of instructions embodied in the ancient chemical deoxyribonucleic acid, at least 3.5 billion years in the making, has been made fully visible for the first time. So now what?

Most Ills Are a Matter of More Than One Gene (June 27, 2000)
Geneticists no longer expect to discover a single, powerful gene for disorders. Most now agree that illnesses are most likely mediated by multiple genes of smaller effect acting in combination with one another and the environment.

The Human Genome Abounds in Complex Contradictions (June 27, 2000)
The human genome, the sum of all genetic material encased in nearly every cell of the human body, is very, very long -- at least 3 billion chemical letters long, as many letters as you'd find in 10,000 copies of the Sunday New York Times.

Double Landmarks for Watson: Helix and Genome (June 27, 2000)
The genesis and history of the genome project has been intertwined to a remarkable degree with the career of one man, Dr. James D. Watson. With Dr. Francis Crick, Dr. Watson discovered the structure of DNA in 1953, and later helped start the human genome project which, less than 50 years later, is coming to fruition.

MEN IN THE NEWS
John Craig Venter and Dr. Francis Collins
(June 27) An intense focus on putting genes to practical use has propelled John Craig Venter from an obscure federal researcher to a principal decoder of the human genome. Francis Sellers Collins, an articulate medical geneticist, directs the National Human Genome Research Institute and is the most visible public spokesman for the human genome project.

Data From Genome Project Transforming Biology Research (June 27, 2000)
Even incomplete, the databases of DNA sequences are a treasure trove for researchers, providing answers in a few minutes at a computer terminal rather than after months of laborious, expensive laboratory experiments.

Scientists Complete Rough Draft of Human Genome (June 26, 2000)
President Clinton joined a government project and private venture Monday in announcing virtual completion of the first rough map of the human genetic code, an achievement Clinton called "a day for the ages."

Genomic Chief Has High Hopes, and Great Fears, for Genetic Testing (June 27, 2000)
Within 10 years, tests for genetic predisposition to 25 major causes of illness and death in this country will be widely available if predictions of Dr. Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project of the National Institutes of Health, prove correct.

Whose DNA Is It? In a Way, Nobody's (June 27, 2000)
Whose DNA was sequenced in the human project? Surely some fitting representative of the human species, some Homo sapientissimus, someone chosen for special qualities of health or intellect, some screen or sports star, maybe technoplutocrat-in-chief Bill Gates. Or why not Dr. James D. Watson or Dr. Francis Crick, the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA?

Rivals in the Race to Decode Human DNA Agree to Cooperate (June 22, 2000)
After months of fitful negotiation that seemed to flame out in a final angry exchange in February, the two sides racing to decode the human DNA have contrived a last-minute truce.

Celera Gains in Decoding the Genome of the Mouse (June 2, 2000)
With the outcome of the race to decode the human genome expected to be declared sometime this month, one of the two competitors said that it had made progress in an important follow-up race, decoding the genome of the mouse.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES

  • The Human Genome Project Text Index






  • VIDEO

    The Composition of Life
    A brief introduction to DNA and genes narrated by Nicholas Wade, science reporter, The New York Times.


    INTERACTIVE IMAGES

    Gene Splicing Primer
    (Requires Hypercosm Player)

    DNA Replication Process
    (Requires Hypercosm Player)
    The Scale of DNA
    (Requires Hypercosm Player)


    ADD YOUR THOUGHTS

    Ask questions. Get answers. Share your knowledge about the genome project.


    DIAGRAMS

    Different Routes to a Completed Map
    A New Era Begins
    Biology Joins the Ranks of Big Science
    Deconstructing a Chromosome
    Studying Model Organisms


    BIOGRAPHIES
    Francis Collins
    J. Craig Venter


    BACKGROUND
    Key Events: Journey to the Genome
    Quick Reference for Genetic Terms


    FORUM
    What are your thoughts on the Human Genome Project? Will the venture be a success?
    Join a Discussion on DNA Research


    ISSUES IN DEPTH
    Genetically Modified Food
    Gene Therapy


    GENERAL INFORMATION
    National Human Genome Institute
    DOE: Human Genome Research


    CURRENT STATISTICS
    National Center for Biotechnology Information
    Baylor College of Medicine : Human Genome Sequencing Center
    Sanger Center
    Washington University School of Medicine Genome Sequencing Centre
    Whitehead Institute
    The Institute for Genomic Research
    Celera


    We welcome your comments.





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