Human Genome Project

[noun]

The US Human Genome Project was a major scientific effort funded by the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Energy. It began in 1990 with the scientific goals of identifying all of the genes in the human genome (approximately 25,000 total) and sequencing all 3 billion base pairs. Other major components of the project involved devising appropriate data storage and analysis tools for the information, and addressing the legal and ethical implications of the scientific work. The project, expected to last fifteen years, was completed in 2003, two years ahead of schedule.