Human Genome Project: a Successful Failure

Abstract

The success of HGP has been modest compared to the expectations nurtured at the project's inception. The nucleotide sequence that drives protein synthesis is only one detail within a complex metabolic control network that affects the entire cell. A major role is played by numerous types of RNA, which are able to modulate their regulatory action according to environmental conditions and to whose synthesis much of the information in the DNA is dedicated.