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“I’M A little confused on timing,” said a reporter at the London press
conference to announce the working draft of the human genome. “You’ve mapped 97
per cent of the genome, sequenced 85 per cent and finished 24 per cent. So why
did you choose now to make your announcement?”

This question more than any other highlights the curious nature of this
week’s announcement. On the face of it, scientists involved in the Human Genome
Project (HGP) proclaimed that they have sequenced an arbitrary amount of the DNA
needed to make a human. What’s more, we understand only tiny parts…

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