A cartography of human histology is in the making
It will identify and locate every type of cell in the human body
What gets hyped, and what remains neglected, often depends on good storytelling. When the Human Genome Project began, in 1990, it had a simple story, well told. From a standing start, American taxpayers would pay for an exhaustive map of the DNA that makes up the 24 sorts of chromosomes found in the human genome (women have 23; men possess an extra tiddler that carries the genetic switch for maleness). Others were welcome to join in (and did; a third of the work was done in Britain, paid for by the Wellcome Trust), and there would be international co-ordination, to stop duplication of effort. But the moving spirit was the American government. And the budget was measured in billions.
It was a brilliant success, both scientifically and as a public-relations exercise for American science. By the time it was done, most people who would consider themselves well-informed had heard of it. Indeed, in a rare shift in public consciousness about scientific jargon, journalists no longer found themselves required by their editors to explain what DNA actually was every single time it was mentioned.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "Worlds within, worlds without"
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