Research into the human genome has broken into two camps, the publicly funded Human Genome Project and the private group led by Celera Genomics Corporation. The two have been locked for years in a tough competitive battle to be the first to deliver information about the genome.
The HGP is a collective involving 16 institutions from six countries led by the US and Britain. It began operations in 1990 and from the start was committed to the idea that all genome sequences and discoveries should be made available to any comer free of charge.
Celera entered the frame in 1998, led by its charismatic president, Dr Craig Venter. He declared a contest, saying he wanted to speed up the sequencing of the genome and employed advanced technology to accomplish this. He said he would be the first to deliver the genome sequence but would not be making it available free of charge to researchers.
This pitted public science against "for profit" science and the race was on. The fight, however, promised to be more destructive than productive and eventually the two camps agreed to a joint draft sequence release last June.
The two groups continued their sequencing activities but also began to delve into the meaning behind the genome. Intensive research over the past seven months has produced today's second joint release of data by the HGP and Celera.
The HGP has assembled dozens of research studies into the genome for publication in the UK-based journal, Nature. Celera did the same, but published in the US-based journal, Science. Details are to be announced today at press conferences around the world, but only the event in Washington at 3 p.m. (Irish time) will involve a shared presentation including both Celera and HGP.