The Human Genome Project and public policy

Abstract

The Human Genome Project is a massive government and privately funded undertaking to sequence the entire human genome and discover all 80,000 human genes in less than 15 years. As the project nears completion in the first decade of the 21st century, the ramifications of public availability of this vast amount of biological information are likely to pervade society. The legal, ethical and social issues raised by the genome project and associated biological research are expected to have a profound and long lasting impact on daily life. How society deals with the many emerging issues involving genetic privacy, designer babies, and the transformation of medical care among others will be a major focus of public and governmental discussion in the next decade.