On Nov. 20, 2006, the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis announced it had been awarded a $156 million, four-year grant to use the powerful tools of DNA sequencing to unlock the secrets of cancer and other human diseases.

The grant was among the largest awarded to Washington University and one of only three given by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to U.S. sequencing centers. The funds were also used to improve scientists’ understanding of the human genome and to sequence the genomes of non-human primates and microbes.

In 1999, the NIH awarded $218.4 million to the Genome Sequencing Center–the largest grant in Washington University’s history.