HGP

Human Genome Project (also Human Genome Initiative). Started in 1988, the scientific goal is to map and sequence the human DNA. It has a current annual U.S. budget of $200 million with a fifteen-year timeline and a $3 billion total price tag. Mapping will eventually tell us the position and spacing of the predicted 100,000 genes in each of our body’s cells; and sequencing will determine the order of the four base pairs—the A,T,G and C nucleotides—that compose the DNA molecule. The study's motive is to identify the 4,000 or so genes that are suspected to be responsible for inherited diseases and to prepare the way for treatment through genetic therapy.