Inside the Dramatic Race to Decode the Human Genome

The Pulse · Dec 25, 2025 · 49m

Twenty-five years ago, President Bill Clinton stood before a podium in the East Room of the White House, and, in front of an all-star lineup of researchers and dignitaries, made a historic announcement: After years of painstaking work, scientists had created “the most important, most wondrous map ever produced by humankind” — the first-ever survey of the human genome.

In his remarks, Clinton compared the achievement to the maps created by Lewis and Clark’s expedition into the American West — but maybe a comparison to the space race would have been more accurate. Because, behind the scenes…