Human Genome Project

American  

noun

1. a federally funded U.S. scientific project to identify both the genes and the entire sequence of DNA base pairs that make up the human genome.

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Etymology

Origin of Human Genome Project

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

This was completed in 2003 by the Human Genome Project.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 4, 2026

In 1988, he became the first director of the $3-billion Human Genome Project, whose goal was to identify and map every human gene.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2025

Although the Human Genome Project announced the completed sequencing of 20,000 human genes more than 20 years ago, scientists are still working to grasp how fully formed beings emerge from basic genetic instructions.

From Science Daily • May 23, 2024

I was a graduate student when the Human Genome Project was nearing completion a little over two decades ago.

From Salon • Oct. 21, 2022

These efforts reach their peak in the Human Genome Project, an international project to map and sequence the entire human genome.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee