1990
1985
. MULLIS merase Chain Reaction ( PCR ) e , sometimes called ' molecular ying ,' was invented in 1985 by llis . It is a laboratory technique mplify - copy - small segments Because significant amounts ple of DNA are necessary for r and genetic analyses , studies ed pieces of DNA are nearly le without PCR amplification . s allowed scientists to make of copies of DNA from even a mple of DNA .
plified , the DNA produced by be used for gene mapping es , forensics analysis , detection ia and viruses , and the diagnosis c disorders .
THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
“ The Human Genome Project was one of the great feats of exploration in history . Rather than an outward exploration of the planet of the cosmos , the Human Genome Project was an inward voyage of discovery led by an international team of researchers looking to sequence and map all of the genes -- together known as the genome -- of members of our species , Homo sapiens . Beginning on October 1 , 1990 , and completed in April 2003 , the HGP gave us the ability , for the first time , to read nature ' s complete genetic blueprint for building a human being .”
- Francis Collins , NIH Director , Head of the HGP , 1990- 2003
The Human Genome Project is considered by many to be one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings of all time , comparable to splitting the atom or going to the moon . By 2003 , the HGP had successfully identified all of the approximately 20,500 genes in human DNA , and determined the sequences of the 3.2 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA . All this to an accuracy of 99.9 %!