“When the Human Genome Project announced that they had completed the first human genome in 2003, it was a momentous accomplishment – for the first time, the DNA blueprint of human life was unlocked. But it came with a catch – they weren’t actually able to put together all the genetic information in the genome. There were gaps: unfilled, often repetitive regions that were too confusing to piece together. With advancements in technology that could handle these repetitive sequences, scientists finally filled those gaps in May 2021, and the first end-to-end human genome was officially published on Mar. 31, 2022.”
Key Takeaways:
- Scientists filled the gaps that handled repetitive sequences in DNA back in May 2021.
- The first-ever end-to-end human genome was published on March 31st, 2022 after the gaps were filled.
- Hans Winkler first made the term genome and he combined the word gene with the suffix -ome which means “complete set”.
“I am a genome biologist who studies repetitive DNA sequences and how they shape genomes throughout evolutionary history.”
