1. definition

   Human Genome Project
2. a scientific project to identify both the genes and the entire sequence of DNA base pairs that make up the human genome.

   An international scientific research project designed to study and identify all of the genes in the human genome, to determine the base-pair sequences in human DNA, and to store this information in computer databases. The Human Genome Project began in the United States in 1990 and was completed in 2003. link

   main purpose

   The main goals of the Human Genome Project were to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billion DNA base pairs that make up the human genome and to find all of the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 human genes.

   link

   what is it used for?

   had two purposes. The first was to map the location of genes in the human genome. The second was to find the sequence (order) of nucleotides (adenine - A, guanine - G, cytosine - C, or thymine - T) (called bases) that make up the DNA of the human genome. 

   link

   how long its been around?

   February 2001

   5 facts
   -In order to sequence the human genome, the first portion of the Human Genome Project involved fragmenting chromosomes into large, overlapping segments.
   -A genome is the complete set of genetic information in an organism.
   -There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in the human genome.
   -Between 1990 and 2003, all twenty-three pairs were fully sequenced through an international research undertaking known as the Human Genome Project.
   -In living organisms, the genome is stored in long molecules of DNA called chromosomes.
   
   
   cited work
   - http://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/genome-43
   - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Human+Genome+Project
   - http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/hgp/goals
   - http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/biotech/about-apropos/genome-eng.php
   - http://www.genome.gov/11006943