How was the Human Genome Sequenced?
The human genome was sequenced by two different groups in two different ways. The $3 billion Human Genome Project, supported by the Department of Energy, used a technique called “hierarchical shotgun sequencing”, where it broke down the human genome into pieces consisting of 150,000 base pairs each. These pieces are then put inside bacteria where the bacteria’s DNA replication machinery makes many copies of the sample for easier sequencing. These constructs are called bacterial artificial chromosomes. The project was founded in 1990 and took 13 years to complete, reaching its end in April 2003. A “rough draft” of the human genome became available in April 2000. The “rogue” group, Celera Genomics, used a relatively novel approach called shotgun sequencing to sequence the human genome in much less time and at far lower cost ($300 million) than the federally-funded Human Genome Project. This group started in 1998 and finished in 2001. Shotgun sequencing involves breaking up multiple copie
