On Oct. 1, 1990, the U.S. Human Genome Project (HGP), a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health, was launched.

The HGP was completed in April 2003, the project’s signature accomplishment – generating the first sequence of the human genome – provided fundamental information about the human blueprint, which has since accelerated the study of human biology and improved the practice of medicine.

The Human Genome Project (HGP) is one of the greatest scientific feats in history comparable to the challenge of putting man on the Moon launched by President John Kennedy.