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Technological advance,
however, was only one of the forces spurring the pace of discovery.
In 1998 a private-sector enterprise, Celera Genomics, headed by
former NIH scientist J. Craig Venter, 
entered the race in the final lap, challenging the publicly funded
Human Genome Project, led by geneticist Francis Collins. At the
heart of the competition was the issue of money, especially control
over potential patents on the genome sequence, considered by most
a pharmaceutical treasure trove. Although the legal and marketplace
aspects remained unclear, in the 11th hour the once bitter rivals
pulled a surprise move and joined forces to some extent, speeding
completion of the rough draft sequence, which represented the
first stage of the project.
Gina
Kolata
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