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Physical Map of Human Genome Completed
A physical map uses sequence-tagged sites (STSs) as markers to order large segments of DNA. One of the goals of the HGP was to complete a physical map with a marker every 100,000 base pairs by 1998. The map built by 1995 was a significant milestone toward that goal; it contained 15,086 STSs, spaced an average of 199,000 base pairs apart. -
Ban on Genetic Discrimination in Workplace
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990. Its purpose is to provide equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities. In 1995, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), issued a modification on the definition of "disability". It stated that the ADA would protect individuals subjected to discrimination on the "basis of genetic information relating to illness, disease or other disorders". -
International Strategy Meeting on Human Genome Sequencing
The first international strategy meeting on human genome sequencing drew scientists from the countries in Europe, North America, and Asia funding human genome sequencing projects. The scientists gathered to compare sequencing strategies and to discuss guidelines for data release. The attendees agreed that all human sequence data they produce should be made freely available to the public. -
Human Gene Map Created
Scientists created a map showing the locations of ESTs (expressed sequence tags) representing fragments of more than 16,000 genes from throughout the genome. -
Human DNA Sequence Begins
In 1996, the National Human Genome Research Institute funded pilot projects to find efficient strategies for completely sequencing the human genome. The pilot projects tested the feasibility of large-scale sequencing, and explored how accurate and how costly alternative approaches might be. -
Recommendations on Genetic Testing
A Task Force on Genetic Testing was created by the NIHDOE Working Group on Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Human Genome Research to review genetic testing in the USA and make recommendations to ensure the development of safe and effective genetic tests. The Task Force declared that safe and effective genetic tests should not only be valid and useful but that they should be performed in laboratories of assured quality. used appropriately by health care providers and consumers. -
HGP Map Included 30,000 Human Genes
In October 1998, HGP researchers released a gene map that included 30,000 human genes, estimated to represent approximately one-third of the total human genes. -
Genome of Roundworm C. elegans Sequenced
The first genome sequence of a multicellular organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, was completed. C.elegans measures one millimeter in length and lives in dirt. It was the first animal complete with nervous and digestive systems and a system for reproducing sexually to have its genome deciphered. C. elegans begins life as a single fertilized cell and passes through a precise program of embryonic development to become a fully formed animal. -
Full-scale Human Genome Sequencing
In March 1999, HGP participants advanced their goal of obtaining draft sequence covering 90 percent of the human genome to 2000, a year and a half before projected previously. Full-scale human genome sequencing began. -
Chromosome 22
HGP completed the first finished, full-length sequence of a human chromosome chromosome 22. This accomplishment demonstrated the power of the HGP method of clone-by-clone sequencing to obtain large amounts of highly accurate sequence. In the clone-by-clone approach, clones of human DNA. Researchers chose to finish chromosome 22 first because it is relatively small and because highly detailed maps of 22 had already been constructed. -
Free Access to Genomic Information
U.S. President Clinton and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that raw, fundamental data about human genome sequence and its variations should be freely available.First, that raw fundamental sequence data the letters that make up the book of human life be distributed as widely as possible without barriers to its use. Second, private investment in gene-based technologies be encouraged, so this fundamental knowledge can be turned into useful medical products as quickly as possible. -
First Draft of the Human Genome Sequence Released
The Human Genome Project international consortium published a first draft and initial analysis of the human genome sequence. The draft sequence covered more than 90% of the human genome.The sequence data was immediately and freely released to the world. Researchers can access the data through public databases on the Internet and can use the information without restriction. At the same time, another version of the humane genome sequence was published by J.Craig Venter and colleagues. -
Researchers Find Genetic Variation Associated with Prostate Cancer
Researchers identified a gene on chromosome 1 associated with a hereditary form of prostate cancer. The work was a collaboration between researchers. Previously, the researchers had studied families with high risks for prostate cancer and identified regions of chromosomes 1,17,20, and X as being associated with the higher risk. The newly identified gene on chromosome 1 is called ribonuclease L or RNASEL. -
Fiftieth Anniversary of Watson and Crick's Description of the Double Helix
A paper appeared in the journal Nature that proposed a double helix structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid DNA. The structure was deceptively simple and immediately answered some important questions about genes and how they work. Toward the end of the short paper is a sentence that reads, "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." -
Human Genome Project Completed
The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project ahead of schedule and under budget. In 2001, the international consortium published a draft sequence. Project scientists then worked to convert the draft sequence into finished sequence. Finished sequenced is defined to mean that there is no more than one error in 10,000 bases sequenced and the sequence is nearly continuous, having just a small number of short gaps. -
The First National DNA Day Celebrated
The US Congress passed a resolution setting aside April 25th as National DNA Day. The date was chosen to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of the landmark paper by Francis Crick and James Watson describing the double helix model of DNA and the recent official completion of the Human Genome Project. On this day a series of events unfolded across the country all resolving around the discovery of DNA. Scientists from NHGRI visited schools speaking about the genomic revolution. -
Surgeon General Stresses Importance of Family History
In November 2004 - and to coincide with Thanksgiving, when families traditionally gather - U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a national public health campaign called the U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative. The campaign focused attention on the importance of the family health history, and encouraged all families to learn more about their health histories. -
Initiatives to Establish the Genetic & Environmental Causes of Common Diseases Launched
One initiative boosts funding at the National NIH for a multi institution effort to identify the genetic and environmental underpinnings of common illnesses. The other initiative launches a public private partnership between NIH the FNIH and major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to accelerate genome association studies to find the genetic roots of widespread sicknesses.The genetic component of the two initiatives is highly complementary.