Special Report: The Genetic Revolution

Sixty years ago this month, researchers James Watson and Francis Crickdescribed the double helix shape of DNA. This breakthrough allowed geneticists to study how an organism’s physical characteristics are encoded in the DNA molecule, and how living creatures pass down traits to their offspring.

Ten years ago this month, researchers completed sequencing the human genome, putting the roughly 3 billion letters that make up a molecule of human DNA in order. The Human Genome Project took more than a decade and cost about US $3 billion. With this comprehensive map, researchers can more easily study how our genes determine our medical fates. [Read More]