A new reference human genome could reflect our species’ true diversity

The current reference human genome is based on a handful of people but the new Pangenome project will incorporate DNA from hundreds of people all around the world

By Michael Marshall

The human genome is being sequenced again – but better. A new project to read DNA from a large number of people has launched, with the aim of sequencing the “pangenome”, a version of the genome that reflects the full genetic diversity of our species.

The human genome, the set of DNA that every person carries in their cells, was first read or “sequenced” between 1990 and 2001. However, this first genome was incomplete because many chunks couldn’t be reconstructed. Geneticists have improved it since, with the last major …