Today we try to identify a gene and then study its properties.

In 15 years we'll have all the sequence, a list of the genes everyone has in common and those that differ among people. We know only something like a tenth of 1 percent of the sequence at the moment.

Everyone wants a hand in the outcome, a piece of the knowledge.

Why do we do basic research? To learn about ourselves.

Biology will relate every human gene to the genes of other animals and bacteria, to this great chain of being.

The community as a whole doesn't listen patiently to critics who adopt alternative viewpoints. Although the great lesson of history is that knowledge develops through the conflict of viewpoints.

Three billion bases of DNA sequence can be put on a single compact disc and one will be able to pull a CD out of one's pocket and say, 'Here is a human being; it's me!'