First Complete, Gapless Sequence Generated.

• Position: HUMAN GENOME

Scientists have published the first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome, two decades after the Human Genome Project produced the first draft human genome sequence. According to researchers, having a complete, gap-free sequence of the roughly 3,000,000,000 bases (or "letters") in our DNA is critical for understanding the full spectrum of human genomic variation and genetic contributions to certain diseases.

The work was done by the Telomere to Telomere (T2T) consortium, which includes leadership from researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI); University of California, Santa Cruz; and University of Washington, Seattle.

Analyses of the complete genome sequence will add significantly to our knowledge of chromosomes, including more accurate maps for five chromosome arms, which opens new lines of research. This helps answer basic biology questions about how chromosomes properly...