Francis Collins. Credit: M. BARTLETT/NHGRI

Francis Collins, the geneticist who led the US National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in Bethesda, Maryland, through the completion of the Human Genome Project and the dawn of the personal genomics era, has announced that he will leave his post on 1 August.

In a news conference last week, Collins said he has no concrete plans about his future and was leaving the NHGRI to explore posts “that would be very difficult to consider or discuss or pursue while continuing in my role as a federal employee”. Many speculate that Collins could assume a leadership role in the next presidential administration, possibly as director of the National Institutes of Health or science adviser to the president. Collins also says that he would like to write a book about personal genomics for the public.

During his 15-year tenure, Collins led what many scientists see as a shift towards funding large-scale projects. He became known as a public face of the Human Genome Project and drew the wrath of some scientists for arguing that science and religious faith are compatible (see Nature 442, 114–115; 2006).