Word: efforts
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...years since James Watson and Francis Crick first discerned the complex structure of DNA, scientists have managed to decipher only a tiny fraction of the human genome. But they have high hopes that with new, automated techniques and a huge coordinated effort, the genome project can reach its goal in 15 years...
...infectious. In an era of budgetary restraint, Washington has been unblinkingly generous toward the genome project, especially since last April, when an array of scientists testified on the subject at a congressional committee hearing. There, Nobel laureate Watson of DNA fame, since picked by the NIH to head the effort, mesmerized listeners with his plea for support: "I see an extraordinary potential for human betterment ahead of us. We can have at our disposal the ultimate tool for understanding ourselves at the molecular level . . . The time...
Even more will be needed when the effort is in full swing, involving hundreds of scientists, dozens of Government, university and private laboratories, and several computer and data centers. With contributions from other Government agencies and private organizations like the Hughes institute, the total annual cost of the project will probably rise to $200 million, which over 15 years will account for the $3 billion price...
...concern, as well as the cost, reflects the complexity of the human genome and the magnitude of the effort required to understand it. DNA is found in the human-cell nucleus in the form of 46 separate threads, each coiled into a packet called a chromosome. Unraveled and tied together, these threads would form a fragile string more than 5 ft. long but only 50 trillionths of an inch across...
...That effort, says Caltech research fellow Richard Wilson, "is analogous to going around and shaking hands with everyone on earth." The resulting string of code letters, according to the 1988 National Research Council report urging adoption of the genome project, would fill a million-page book. Even then, much of the message would be obscure. To decipher it, researchers would need more powerful computer systems to roam the length of the genome, seeking out meaningful patterns and relationships...