Genomics History & Milestones
1985
May 24-26 Chancellor Robert Sinsheimer convenes a group of eminent biologists in Santa Cruz to propose a massive, historic project to determine the complete DNA sequence of the human genome—our genetic blueprint. Read Dr. Sinheimer’s account of the Santa Cruz Workshop. For more about Robert Sinsheimer’s mark on the human genome project, read this 2017 feature story written following Sinsheimer’s death at age 97.
1990
October International Human Genome Project launches with the goal of reaching a significant milestone: a complete human genome sequence by 2005.
2000
June 22 Jim Kent assembles the human genome sequence using his 10,000-line computer program.
September Launch of the UC Santa Cruz Genome Browser.
2001
January Copy of first draft of the human genome sequence presented to President Clinton and deposited in the Smithsonian.
February Publication of the human genome sequence in Nature.
The Symposium included a scientific workshop and a public forum. Panelists at the forum were Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute; Robert Sinsheimer, chancellor emeritus and professor emeritus of biology, UC Santa Cruz; Gene Myers, vice-president of informatics research, Celera Genomics; and Mary-Claire King, professor of Medicine and Genetics, University of Washington. The moderator was Richard Harris, science reporter for National Public Radio and an alumnus of UCSC. The video and panel discussion recordings are available online.
2004
May Genomics Institute publishes findings about ultra-conserved elements in the human genome that have remained unchanged through long periods of evolutionary history—one of Science magazine’s breakthroughs of the year.
2009
March UCSC Cancer Genomics Browser makes its historic debut, built on the UCSC Genomics Browser platform and capable of visualizing data from cancer clinical trials.
April An international team of collaborators, including David Haussler, launch the Genome 10K project to reach the milestone of sequencing the genomes of 10,000 vertebrate species. The initiative is funded in part by the first-ever grant from the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board Opportunity Fund (BOF).
2013
2015
April Beth Shapiro publishes How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction; CALeDNA project launched.
2016
April 4 BRCA Exchange opens with Internet access to genetic variants in most important breast cancer gene.
July St. Baldrick’s Foundation funds Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative with $2.5 million grant.
2017
July Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative funds Benedict Paten and Jim Kent to build data platform for Human Cell Atlas.
2018
January Nature publishes first human genome sequenced with nanopore technology.
April Ed Green’s DNA forensic analysis cracks the Golden State Killer case.
November Schmidt Family Foundation funds Braingeneers project at UCSC/UCSF.
2019
September Launch of the Human Pangenome Project led by UC Santa Cruz.