DNA the story of life. Pt.3, The human race.

The technique of DNA fingerprinting, discovered by Sir Alec Jeffreys, and then the technique of DNA sequencing, the work of Prof. Fred Sanger, led to the development of the Human Genome Project. Prof. James Watson was the first Director of the Human Genome Project (HUGO) and was succeeded in 1992 by Francis Collins. The programme describes the rivalry between the Sanger Centre (Britain) and Celera (US), a DNA sequencing company set up by Prof. Craig Ventor. Ventor intended to market his newly sequenced DNA to drug companies but the Sanger Centre opposed this and released their information into the public domain. The race between the two sides to complete the first draft of the human genome became acrimonious and President Clinton intervened, decreeing that both sides would make a joint announcement of completion. This was done on 26th June 2000, with the sequencing of 38,000 genes in the human genome.