[Caitlin:] $$ What's up with your old-school piggy bank? [Felicia:] Well, after we talked, I decided that I want to save up, so I can have my entire genome sequenced. Did you know that the Human Genome Project cost $3 billion? At this rate, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to save enough -- even if I sell my crafts on Etsy. Do you have a spare $3 billion hidden in your mattress? [Caitlin:] No, but I've got good news. It won't cost you anywhere near that amount. Maybe somewhere along the lines of $1500. [Felicia:] Whoa! The price has really come down. Okay, I'll spit in a tube, and when the results come back in a decade, I'll know everything I've ever wanted to know about me. [Caitlin:] A decade? Try tomorrow. DNA sequencing technology has come a long way in the last ten years. [Felicia:] Great! [Coins jingling] I'm in! [Caitlin:] You know, I've also been considering getting my genome sequenced. We should do it together. [Felicia:] We can. We can actually race to see who can sequence their genome first. [Caitlin:] That's sort of like the Human Genome Project and Celera. Those were the two groups that were racing each other to be the first to sequence the human genome. They're coming into the home stretch... [Felicia:] And the winner is.... Well, you'll find out in this episode of... [Both:] DNA Decoded! [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [Caitlin:] Okay, let me tell you about the story of the real race between the Human Genome Project and a private company called Celera. The Human Genome Project began in 1990. It was made up of 20 research centres in six countries, one of the largest collaborations in scientific history. The project received $3 billion in public funds to sequence the entire human genome within 15 years. As we'll see, things didn't quite turn out that way. [Felicia:] To put the project in prospective, it took $5.9 billion and eight years for the US to put a man on the moon. The space race spurred a flurry of scientific research that propelled humans into outer space. [Caitlin:] The Human Genome Project, on the other hand, sparked research that helped us to discover the universe inside of our cells. In total, the human genome consists of over 3 billion base pairs. So, basically, the scientists were putting together a giant jig-saw puzzle with over 3 billion pieces. [Felicia:] To make it even more difficult to solve the puzzle, there are only four repeating bases: A-T-C-G. [Caitlin:] The Human Genome Project had two main goals: first, to sequence entire human genome and, second, to make this data publicly available, as soon as the sections were decoded. That way researchers worldwide could build on each others' work. [Felicia:] So, how did they sequence the entire human genome? The process was actually quite simple -- if a little labour-intensive. [Caitlin:] As you can imagine, it was a painstaking process, especially given that it involved teams of scientists from China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, and the US all working together. But they plugged away, year after year, through the clashes and disagreements. [Felicia:] Plus, the technology kept shifting under the researchers' feet. In the 80s and 90s, they could only sequence about a thousand base pairs a day. Fast forward to the 2000s and the rate jumped to about a thousand base pairs decoded every second. [Caitlin:] Given all the change and conflict, it's kind of amazing the Human Genome Project didn't just fall apart. [Felicia:] And that's not the end of the story. Another monkey wrench got thrown in the works. Just about halfway through the project, a private company called Celera tossed its hat into the sequencing ring. They said: Pffft! Seven more years?! We can sequence the human genome in THREE years. And we can do it way cheaper. [Caitlin:] Celera and the Human Genome Project tried to work together. But that didn't go so well. It would be easy to make mistakes in sequencing the human genome because there are so many stretches that repeat over and over. [Felicia:] To avoid making any errors, the Human Genome Project created a reference map of the entire genome to guide their work. [Caitlin:] On the other hand, some say that Celera played fast-and-loose with its sequencing. Rather than sequencing the sections gene-by-gene, as the Human Genome Project had, Celera cut up the entire genome at once and started looking for overlapping stretches. [Felicia:] Now, there were also legal and ethical issues the teams couldn't get passed. So, the two projects agreed to disagree -- and a race began. Celera's participation plus improving technology meant the sequencing by both teams was firing on all cylinders. [Caitlin:] As they neared the finish line, both teams decided to play nice with each other. They jointly published a sequence of about 90% of the human genome. [Felicia:] So, tie game. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a winner. And the winner is: us. [MUSIC]
