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30th Anniversary of the Human Genome Project

Interviews with genomics leaders

October 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Human Genome Project (HGP). To commemorate this historic milestone, NHGRI’s History of Genomics Program is featuring 30 oral history interviews with prominent genomics experts relevant to the HGP and the broader field of genomics. This collection includes interviews with HGP architects, government officials who managed the HGP and researchers who actively contributed to the HGP’s success. We will feature one oral history per week for 30 consecutive weeks, culminating on Oct. 1, 2020.

Robert Cook-Deegan

Robert Cook-Deegan, M.D. is a professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, and with the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University. His research interests include science policy, health policy, biomedical research, cancer, and intellectual property. He is the author of The Gene Wars: Science, Politics, and the Human Genome. In this oral history, Robert describes his involvement with the Human Genome Project (HGP) while employed by the congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the National Center for Human Genome Research. As a participant in discussions about whether to sequence the human genome, and subsequently working with Jim Watson, his oral history offers an important and insightful perspective on the HGP.

Last updated: Ocotober 20, 2020