Three Billion Letters of Wonder

On April 14, 2003, scientists announced what thirteen years of painstaking work had finally achieved — the Human Genome Project was complete. Researchers from twenty institutions across six countries had mapped the entire human genetic code: 3. 1 billion base pairs of DNA, containing roughly 20,500 genes. It was the largest collaborative biological project in history. Francis Collins, the geneticist who directed the effort, was not shy about what the discovery stirred in him.…