Perhaps it was too much to hope that the key players involved in sequencing the ∼2.9 billion bases of the draft human genome could have buried their differences before jointly announcing their achievement to the world.

At separate briefings at the BioVision conference in Lyons, France and the London press conference, neither Francis Collins, John Sulston, Mike Dexter, nor Craig Venter could bring themselves to reconcile the two genome efforts—the “public” project funded by NIH, The Wellcome Trust, and government agencies around the world, and the “private” effort funded by the shareholders of Celera Genomics (see p. 191).

At the London press conference, skirmishing between representatives of the public effort and Celera occupied at least half of the question-and-answer session. The Wellcome Trust even issued a four-page press release drawing attention to deficiencies in the Celera sequence: Far from “winning the race,” the press release proclaimed, the Celera method “has been found wanting.” “It is difficult to escape the conclusion,” the release concludes, “that the pure whole genome shotgun has failed as far as generating the sequence of the human genome is concerned.”

This is not the language of inclusiveness or conciliation. It is not a form of words that will encourage the general public to think well of scientists from academia or from industry. It sets entirely the wrong tone. This should have been a dignified, propitious, and historic moment. It felt like a wrangle over which genome sequence paper was best or most indispensable; whose genome data the most useful; and whose standards the most appropriate standard for data release.

The chief protagonists seemed unaware that they were participating in a historic moment. This undoubtedly was—and is—a large step for mankind, but one obscured by the small-mindedness of men.