In mid-April the Department of Energy (DOE) stole thunder from the National Institutes of Health when it announced the draft decoding of DNA on human chromosomes 5, 16, and 19. Containing an estimated 10,000-15,000 genes, the chromosomes constitute 300 million bases, or an estimated 11 percent of the total human genome. Genes on chromosomes 5, 16, and 19 have been linked to certain forms of kidney disease, prostate and colorectal cancer, leukemia, hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. But certain genes are also under study for potentially beneficial and detoxifying effects on the human body. In fact, DOE's imprimatur when it began the sequencing project was to study the genetic and health impact of radiation and chemical by-products of energy production. DOE actually began the Human Genome Project in 1986 to map and determine the complete DNA sequence of the human genome.
The DOE has not done everything the way other sequencing ...
