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Human Genome Project Information Archive
1990–2003

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Human Genome News, July-September 1996; 8:(1)

DOE, NCHGR Issue Human Subject Guidelines

On August 19, Aristides Patrinos, Director of the DOE Human Genome Program, and Francis Collins, Director of the NIH National Center for Human Genome Research, issued a document providing investigators with guidance in the use of human subjects for large-scale sequencing projects. The guidance recommends the following principles:

  • Derive the initial version of the complete human DNA sequence from multiple donors,
  • Ensure that donors can make informed, unpressured decisions about DNA contributions,
  • Protect donor privacy and confidentiality,
  • Obtain institutional review-board approval before work is initiated, and
  • Rapidly introduce new libraries constructed in accordance with this guidance.

The guidance emphasizes numerous ways to preserve anonymity of donors and suggests that they should be selected from diverse pools of individuals, including females as well as males. Recruiting from laboratory staff is discouraged.A copy of the guidance is available from HGMIS or via WWW (http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/publicat/miscpubs/nchgrdoe.shtml).


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Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v8n1).

Human Genome Project 1990–2003

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.

Human Genome News

Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.