A finished, high-quality sequence will be completed by the end of 2003. All sequence produced by Human Genome Project scientists is in a freely accessible database. The process has been streamlined and automated and better machines read the sequence fragments quickly and more cheaply. This figure covers the cost of shotgun sequencing, as well as the cost of closing the gaps and finishing the sequence. Scientists then have to piece the sequenced fragments back together, bit by bit, so it looks like the original genome.
Computers usually perform that step.
The Human Genome Project shotgun approach is applied to cloned DNA fragments that already have been mapped so that it is known exactly where they are located on the genome, making assembly easier and much less prone to error. That includes funding for both the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health programs, which have used those funds to develop detailed genome maps, identify and map half of the 80,000 or so human genes, sequence the genomes of several laboratory organisms, develop new technologies, and fund social impact studies. The project has developed maps of the human genome, that is, a set of closely spaced molecular landmarks to guide gene hunters. Project scientists also are mapping the genome of the laboratory mouse. Genome researchers have identified almost half of the 80,000 or so human genes, and completed the DNA sequence of two important microbial genomes, the bacteria E. coli and baker's yeast.