Each cell of the body contains the complete genetic information that is stored in the DNA.

That is why in 1988 scientists decided to analyze the DNA chain one building block at a time or rather, one base at a time. It is the most ambitious research project of all time. Using a chemical method, it is possible to determine whether the just dissected building block is an A, T, C, or G. Thus, one genetic letter after the other can be "read" in the DNA.  

Ten years later: once again a fast-paced race in the history of DNA is in the offing. Craig Ventor, the director of the pharmaceutical company Celera Genomics, decided to decipher the human genome, too. He would like to beat the scientists at the publicly funded human genome project, in achieving this. And he has good chances because he uses a faster method, although admittedly it is also somewhat more inexact.   

In the spring of 2001 both competitors reach the goal at the same time. They finish mapping the exact sequence of the 3.2 billion gene letters and from that are able to read approximately how many genes are contained in the human hereditary material. A surprise: each human has approximately 20,000 to 25,000 genes. That’s only about twice as many genes as a fly has! Scientists had expected considerably more genes in human DNA.

Next chapter:

• Understanding how genes and proteins function and devising a "wiring diagram" of the body.