[Decoding of the human genome: a milestone, but not the end of the road]

The base sequence of the entire human DNA will be known within only a few years. So far, 16,000 of an expected total of 100,000 genes have been identified. Nowadays there are different stages of molecular unraveling: from fully sequenced genes, including mutations responsible for diseases, down to 'predicted' genes for which no corresponding protein is yet known. Moreover, the genes responsible for many monogenetic conditions have not yet been identified. The revolutionary approach of at random cloning and sequencing was shown to be successful in the recently published genome sequence of the fruit fly. The next landmark will be an overview of the characteristics and activity of every protein that this organism can synthesize. However, protein technology has developed less far than DNA-technology and will be subject of the next project.