Gene Rich, Cash Poor; March 1994; Scientific American Magazine; by Rennie; 2 Page(s)

By all the short-term measures, the Human Genome Project is succeeding beyond its planners' dreams. Four years ago it was launched as a 15-year effort to read and decipher the DNA in human cells. But within two years researchers will have fairly detailed maps of all the chromosomes and may even know where nearly all the genes are. Those discoveries are ushering in a new age in biology. With genetic decoders in hand, investigators will soon be finding molecular solutions to long-standing puzzles of development and cellular function.

At the same time, however, geneticists are also worrying about whether the program has the technical and financial resources to keep the party going. "It is very difficult to look at the budget we have and see how we're going to get it done by 2006," laments Francis Collins, director of the genome project at the National Institutes of Health.