ABSTRACT
I.remember.first.hearing.about.the.human.genome.project.[1,.2],.whilst.still.a. second.year.medical.student.at.Christ’s.College,.Cambridge.in.1988..Cambridge. had.good.cause.to.be.interested.and.excited.about.the.project,.since.James.Watson. and.Francis.Crick.were.working.together.at.Cambridge.before.sharing.the.Nobel. Prize.in.Physiology.or.Medicine.for.their.discovery.of.DNA.in.1962,.along.with. Maurice.Wilkins-also.a.Cambridge.graduate..During. later.years,. I. followed. the.rivalry.between.the.two.human.genome.sequencing.projects.with.great.interest..One.was.a.privately-funded.team.led.by.Craig Venter.(Celera.Genomics).and. the.other.was.a..publicly-funded,.international.team,.led.by.James.Watson.that. included.groups.from.the.USA.(National.Institutes.of.Health).and.UK.(Welcome. Trust)..The.UK-based.efforts.took.place.at.the.Sanger.Centre.(now.the.Sanger. Institute),.which.was.and.still.is,.sited.at.Cambridge-closing.a.loop.started.by. Watson.and.Crick,.50.years.earlier.
