Mapping the human genome: current status

Abstract

The human genome has already been the subject of extensive research activity even though the Human Genome Project is only just officially starting. This review and the accompanying wall chart attempt to provide an integrated, quantitative, and detailed summary of the status of knowledge on the human genome in mid-1990. The analysis has highlighted the rudimentary nature of many of the information links needed for the task. While this overview could not be fully comprehensive and required simplifying assumptions, the results have provided estimates of relative progress on a region-by-region basis throughout the genome.