Human genome. Rival genome sequencers celebrate a milestone together.

At a White House ceremony on 26 June, two scientific groups, one funded by the government and the other privately funded, announced that they have generated a nearly complete readout of the 3.1 or so billion nucleotides in the human genome. The White House ceremony was more than a celebration; it was also designed to heal a split in the research community. The ceremony brought together leaders of the rival groups in a kind of truce, cooling off a competition that had grown intense in recent months.