Known Before the First Base Pair

On April 14, 2003, scientists announced the completion of the Human Genome Project — a thirteen-year international effort to map the entire human genetic code. Launched in 1990 across twenty research centers in six countries, the project had decoded roughly three billion base pairs of DNA, the biological instructions for building a human life. Its director, Francis Collins, was both a world-class geneticist and a committed Christian.…