Sequencing the Human Genome: A Historical Perspective on Challenges for Systems Integration

The sequence of the human genomewas declared finished on April 14, 2003. Analyses have been published in the journal Nature for chromosomes 6, 7, 14, 20, 21, 22 andY, with the other chromosomes to followin 2004. Although the Human Genome Project officially began in 1990, most of the publicly accessible sequence data were produced by 20 genome centers in six countries between 1999 and 2002. This group of centers, called the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, coordinated their mapping and sequencing efforts and freely shared materials, data and procedures [23]. The International Consortium in turn was supported by a network of funding agency program directors, database managers, resource providers, instrumentation/protocol developers, and conference organizers. In all, several thousand people made sure that the human genome got sequenced, and the world is rightly celebrating their accomplishment.