Mapping the Human Genome

The greatest scientific accomplishment ever is almost complete. What could be a greater accomplishment than man on the moon? Only one thing comes to mind, mapping of the human genome. The human genome is 3.2 billion letters long. Ninety-seven percent of it is useless trash. The Human Genome Project was created a little over a decade ago. With the project coming to an end researchers will be able to figure out exactly how each gene functions--and, more important, malfunctions to trigger deadly illnesses from heart disease to cancer (Time 1999).
There is a mad race to see who will finish first. A couple of companies are in the running to finish by 2003. Independently funded Celera Genomics Corp. is in first, closely followed by the Human Genome Project, which is funded by the US government, and behind the most powerful country in the world is The Sanger Centre in England.
James Watson and others started the Human Genome Project in 1988. James Watson was also the co-discover of the ...