Human Genome Project
Human Genome Project:
According to the Timeline page, this project’s beginnings hail all the way back to 1983; but it isn’t until 1987 that we see funding for the project underway. The project formally begins in 1990, and 1999 sees the first human chromosome completely sequenced.
The U.S. Human Genome Project, coordinated by DOE and NIH, is a multi-year effort to find all the genes on every chromosome in the human body and to determine their biochemical nature.
You can read more on the HGP website; and for a look at genetics explained in more average-person-friendly terms, stop by Genetics and Health written by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei.