2011 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2011. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

379
What exactly is the human genome project and is it finished?
     Arjun Prasad, Ph.D.: I am a post-doctoral Fellow working in bioinformatics at NHGRI. I'm very much interested in figuring out new ways to use new DNA sequencing technology and computers to learn about how genomes work, evolve, and influence human health. The Human Genome Project officially began in October 1990 and was considered completed on April 14, 2003. The most important achievement of the project was sequencing the DNA that makes up the human genome. While the project itself is officially over, we are now engaged in the really exciting -- and even more important -- work of figuring out how the genome functions and how it affects our health.
Palms Middle School in CA (7th grade student)

< View ALL questions and answers from 2011



(short, single keywords work best at first)