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What is the Human Genome Project? Begun formally in 1990, the U.S. Human Genome Project is a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The project originally was planned to last 15 years, but rapid technological advances have accelerated the expected completion date to 2003. Project goals are to: • identify all the approximate 30,000 genes in human DNA, • determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, • store this information in databases, • improve tools for data analysis, • transfer related technologies to the private sector, and • Address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project. To help achieve these goals, researchers also are studying the genetic makeup of several nonhuman organisms. These include the common human gut bacterium Escherichia coli, the fruit fly, and the laboratory mouse. Sequence and Analysis of the human genome working draft was published in February, 2001, in Nature and Science. When was it completed? The human genome project was completed between January and June 2003. What will some benefits be? Rapid progress in genome science and