Human Genome Project | The initial sequencing of the human genome published in 2001

First edition of the initial sequencing of the human genome. An unusually nice copy in the original wrappers, complete with the original Human Genome Project poster and CD, both in unused condition.

The possibility of sequencing the entire humane genome had been proposed as early as 1979, and interest among both scientists and governments increased during the 1980s as technological advancements made the concept more feasible. The first federal funding was received in 1987 and the project was officially launched in 1990. Involving scientists in the US, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and China, it remains the world’s largest collaborative biological research undertaking.

“The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium published the first draft of the human genome in the journal Nature in February 2001 with the sequence of the entire genome's three billion base pairs some 90 percent complete. More than 2,800 researchers who took part in the consortium shared authorship. A startling finding of this first draft was that the number of human genes appeared to be significantly fewer than previous estimates, which ranged from 50,000 genes to as many as 140,000. The full sequence was completed and published in April 2003. Upon publication of the majority of the genome in February 2001, Francis Collins, then director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, noted that the genome could be thought of in terms of a book with multiple uses: ‘It's a history book - a narrative of the journey of our species through time. It's a shop manual, with an incredibly detailed blueprint for building every human cell. And it's a transformative textbook of medicine, with insights that will give health care providers immense new powers to treat, prevent and cure disease’” (”What is the Human Genome Project?”, website of the National Humane Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health).