Bioinformatics Genome projects generate mind-boggling amounts of data. If printed, the 3 billion or so base units in the human genome would fill 200 telephone books of 1,000 pages each. It's easy to imagine an enormous library containing nothing but the human genome. Humans are only one of the millions of species on the planet.
Genomics represents more information than everything else ever known.
This year alone, scientists around the world will generate more data than mankind has generated in its entire history. Information-wise, genomics is like trying to drink from a fire hose. If trying to understand up to 140,000 human genes is a daunting task, consider that there may be 24 million or more proteins percolating through our bodies. One of the key areas growing out of the Human Genome Project is proteomics, studying the structure and function of proteins. While genes hold the instructions for life, the actual work is carried out by proteins.