See the history of DNA sequencing

Watch how Sanger sequencing kickstarted the first generation of DNA sequencing

Sanger sequencing is a foundational DNA sequencing technology developed in 1977. The Nobel Prize-winning discovery uses fluorescent dyes at the end of DNA chains, which are sorted by length through electrophoresis, to determine the order of nucleotide bases.

Explore the original goals of the Human Genome Project

The project goals emphasized DNA sequencing technologies and methods, which would lead to future treatments of genetic disorders. Exploring the project data's ethical and social implications was also considered.

Breaking the genome into random segments accelerated the Human Genome Project

Hierarchical shotgun sequencing is a method for determining an organism's genome by fragmenting DNA before sequencing. By creating fragments with overlapping nucleotide bases, the DNA is reassembled by matching fragment ends.

An overview of the Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project was a groundbreaking global scientific effort to sequence the genome of humans and several organisms used in scientific research. The sequenced genome was created by combining the DNA of 20 people from Buffalo, New York.

The Human Genome Project spawned numerous spinoff genetics projects

The Human Genome Project led to the development of techniques later applied to projects in microbial and plant biology, epigenomics, environmental and cancer genomes, and more. In the spirit of the HGP, data from these projects has been made freely available to develop new technologies.

Nineteen years after its conclusion, scientists finish what the HGP started

The Human Genome Project mapped 92% of the human genome sequence upon its completion in 2003, leaving unreachable DNA regions unmapped. PacBio HiFi DNA sequencing allowed its completion 19 years later, with the additional mapping of 200 million DNA letters.

The Human Genome Project was forced to accelerate due to a private competitor

Despite a 15-year target when it began in 1990, the Human Genome Project faced competition from Celera Genomics when it entered the sequencing race in 1998. Celera's aim to complete the human genome in three years pressured the HGP to complete their sequencing several years ahead of schedule.

See a timeline of landmark discoveries in the field of genetics

From the first genetic map of fruit fly genes in 1911 through the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, scientists have built upon each other's discoveries to further our knowledge of the human body and the genetic instructions that inform our traits and disease risks.

Glowing chemicals allow scientists to read DNA like a barcode

The process of determining the order of nitrogenous bases in DNA involves first cutting the DNA into fragments, which are duplicated multiple times using bacteria. Fluorescently labeled terminator bases are added to fragments, which are sorted by length and read via laser to reconstruct the sequence.

How do you sequence a genome?

If the genome is made up of microscopic chromosomes, how do scientists actually sequence it? Here's a 5-minute video explaining one of the most common processes.

In 2025, researchers in the UK began working on developing artificial DNA

The Synthetic Human Genome Project aims to one day construct human DNA, molecule by molecule, in the hopes of creating disease-resistant cells and synthetic chromosomes for study. However, critics warn it may be misused to create enhanced or modified humans.

All publicly available DNA sequences are available at GenBank

The National Institutes of Health's database stores comprehensive, annotated DNA sequences as part of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration. It encourages unrestricted data access within the scientific community while allowing submitters to retain intellectual property rights over their data.

The first criminal conviction through the use of DNA evidence was in 1988

Chromosomes contain markers where short DNA sequences repeat a variable number of times from person to person. A DNA profile is constructed by identifying the number of repeats across 20 regions throughout a genome, which can be compared against a database. DNA paternity tests work similarly by comparing markers between children and their fathers. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Visualization of printing synthetic DNA

Ever wonder how synthetic DNA is made? Discover how GenScript uses innovative technology to synthesize precise, high-quality DNA at a larger scale than ever before.

Gene therapy, a hope of the Human Genome Project, saves a baby's life

A baby with a rare genetic disorder received a bespoke gene-editing treatment using CRISPR technology. The case highlights the potential of personalized medicine for rare diseases, building on the foundation set by the Human Genome Project.

DNA computing allows for storage and processing of massive amounts of data

Although costly and less efficient for simpler tasks, as of 2025, DNA could hold 455 exabytes of data with near limitless parallel computation potential in small data centers. Every movie ever made would fit inside the volume of a single sugar cube.

Genes are the basic units of heredity

These segments of DNA—long molecules made of nucleotides that coil into chromosomes—code instructions for making specific proteins, which correspond to different traits. Approximately 98 to 99% of human DNA is non-coding, with functions beyond protein synthesis.

Watson and Crick revealed DNA's double-helix structure using others' key findings

Their 1953 model, made from cardboard cutouts, explained how DNA stores genetic information through base pairing. Rather than experimenting and collecting their own data, they incorporated patterns and data from other scientists through trial and error.

Recombinant DNA technology turns microorganisms into protein factories

Genes for molecules such as insulin can be inserted into loops of bacterial DNA called plasmids and reinserted into bacteria. Once placed in fermentation tanks, these bacteria use the gene to produce these molecules, which are then harvested and purified for eventual use.

The discovery of the first extremophile and how it revolutionized DNA analysis

While investigating samples taken from within and around the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park, microbiologist Thomas Brock discovered Thermus aquaticus, a microorganism that thrived in hot water. It contained an enzyme called Taq polymerase, a critical molecule in polymerase chain reaction—a molecular photocopier that amplifies genetic signals to improve medical diagnostics.

Long-term evolution experiments use microbe's short generations to speed up selection

With quick generations of microbes, scientists can speed up the evolutionary process, with projects like the LTEE in California running for 40 years and generating 80,000 generations of E. coli.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Drs. Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier discuss CRISPR

Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier's were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for research focused on understanding and adapting the CRISPR-Cas9 system to precisely edit DNA sequences in other organisms. Doudna has indicated that the system can potentially treat genetic forms of blindness and high cholesterol.

RNA may have allowed life to exist before DNA

The emergence of living organisms from non-living matter—abiogenesis—requires both a molecule that encodes genetic information and proteins that perform biochemical processes. However, because DNA and protein depend on one another, some biologists theorize that RNA, which can both store information and perform functions, preceded both and originated life.

23andMe declared bankruptcy in March 2025

The consumer genetic testing company, which offered detailed genetic profiles from users' saliva samples, suffered financially after they suffered a major data breach affecting almost 7 million customers in 2023. Its flagship product was a one-time genetic analysis which also made retention of users challenging.

How humans evolved from single-cell organisms

Humans have had a long history. 3.8 billion years in the making, to be precise. From the primordial puddle to the modern day, here's how humans have evolved from the first life.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

See the evolution of Ebola vaccine and treatment development.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.