“ONE giant leap for humility”. “We’re nothing special”. “Scientists find only
half as many genes as expected”. These are some of the headlines that appeared
after papers on the draft genome were published in February. Both the public and
private projects estimated we had just 30,000 to 40,000 genes, far fewer than
most previous figures suggested—and barely more than worms.
But the low estimates have ignited a firestorm of controversy. William
Haseltine, head of biotech company Human Genome Sciences (HGS) in Rockville,
Maryland, has been the most outspoken critic, attacking both the quality of the
draft sequences…
