In this issue... 

1997 Santa Fe Highlights 
Patrinos Address 
Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Comes of Age 
JGI Sequencing 
JGI Informatics 
JGI and Bermuda Quality Sequence 
Grants Awarded for JGI Collaboration 
JGI Sequencing Clones 
Sequencing Strategies,Tools 
Gene-Discovery Resources 
Sequencing at NIH NHGRI 
Functional Genomics 
Data Surge Challenges Informaticists 
Genome Annotation: Informatics Advances Needed for Age of Functional Genomics 
ELSI: Rapid Progress Accelerates Societal Impact of Genome Research 
1999 DOE HGP Meeting Set for California 

Human Genome Project Administration 
New 5-Year Goals, Project Midpoint 
DOE, NIH Discuss Informatics 
JASON Group Review 
BER Genome Instrumentation Research 

In the News 
Private-Sector Sequencing Plan 
Bang for the Buck: Government-Backed Research Underpins Potentially High Payoff Ventures 
Palmisano Joins DOE OBER 
DNA Files series to be on NPR 
HUGO Addresses Sample Collection 
Sickle Cell Mice May Lead to New Treatments 
TIGR Sequencing 6 More Microbes 
Tuberculosis Microbe Sequenced 
C. Elegans Sequencing Nears Finish 
HGMIS Website Restructured 
cDNA Cloning Workshop Identifies Critical Issues 
Survey Identifies Growing Need for Synchrotron Analyses 
NCGR Announcements 

Publications 
Report on Functional Consequences of Gene Expression 
Book on Tuskegee Conference 
Book Focuses on Biomarker Implications, Conference Proceedings 
Genome Analysis Protocol Handbook 

Software and the Internet 
Mouse Genome Informatics Release 2.0 
New System Identifies Polymorphisms 
DOE Supports Web Site for 1997 AAAS Genome Symposium 
Expressed Human Genome Database 

Funding 
DOE ELSI 
NIH NHGRI 
NHGRI Initiates Mailing List 
U.S. Genome Research Funding 

Meeting Calendars & Acronyms 
Genome and Biotechnology Meetings 
Training Courses and Workshops 
Acronyms 

HGN archives and subscriptions   
HGP Information home 

New Five-Year Plan in Process as HGP Passes Midpoint

Midlife traditionally presents an opportunity for making evaluations, as progress toward milestones is measured and courses are altered. So, too, with the Human Genome Project (HGP), the massive 15-year biological undertaking begun in 1990 to obtain the sequence of all 3 billion bases in human DNA. Rapid progress and technology developments during the first half of the project have affirmed researchers optimism that the task can be completed on time and within budget. A new set of U.S. goals for the next 5 years will be presented to Congress this fall.

The new plan was developed during a series of individual and joint DOE-NIH workshops on various aspects of the project. The DOE planning committee, chaired by Raymond Gesteland (University of Utah), met May 28-29 with its NIH counterpart and a broad group of 120 researchers for a final evaluation of the plan. At that meeting, the consensus was that (1) the U.S. HGP should stick with its original goal of achieving full and highly accurate human sequence and (2) improving sequencing capacity is paramount. Priorities for the next 5 years include the following:

• Clone and sequence full-length cDNAs of humans and model organisms, especially mouse.
• Develop and improve software for determining and assembling sequences and recognizing expressed genes.
• Identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms as measures of human variation.
• Continue to study ethical, legal, and social issues related to the project.

Human Genome Project Value
Although initially controversial in the scientific community, the genome project's value has been proved beyond question. The wider biological and scientific communities in the United States and around the world are developing tools and applications for the new data in such wide-ranging fields as medicine, agriculture, bioremediation, and industrial enzymology.

International efforts have played a critical role in the project's success, with at least 18 countries now supporting programs for analyzing the genomes of a variety of organisms ranging from microbes to economically important plants and animals to humans.

The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v9n3).