Sixteen years ago, British researcher Ewan Birney launched an unusual sweepstake. At the time, scientists were completing the Human Genome Project, the international effort to unravel the genetic makeup of human beings. But how many individual human genes would be revealed when the project was completed, Birney wondered? So he asked the world’s top geneticists to each bet a dollar on the outcome.
This might have seemed a rather tardy question, given that the project had already consumed “the best part of a decade, the invention of brand new technologies, unprecedented computing power and $3bn”, as Adam Rutherford notes. Late or not, Birney’s query nevertheless produced a striking answer.
Related: Do your genes determine your entire life? | Julian Baggini
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