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is robust and arrives at conclusions that are logical and transparent. Worton is also upset with the size of the outlays at a time when the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canadas leading funder of biomedical research, has seen success rates for competitive grant proposals plummet from 32% to 16% in the past 5 years. That amount of money added to the CIHR would have solved the whole problem, he avows. The government announced it would
GENETICS

raise CIHRs budget by 5%, to $627 million. Canadian Association of University Teachers Executive Director James Turk says the new initiative not only sets a bad precedent but is also further evidence of the governments preference for strategic initiatives over basic research, both within and outside the granting councils. Sprinkled through all their discussions on research is a greater focus on targeting, he says, and the federal government choosing the targets. But Claire Morris, presi-

dent of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, says that good things can happen [through] partnerships between the private sector, the public sector, and academia. Details of the new program are sparse. The winning institutes will have to come up with some outside funding, although the amount will be higher for centers focused on commercialization than for those doing basic research.
WAYNE KONDRO Wayne Kondro writes from Ottawa.

A U.S. company has begun to trickle out information on a unique DNA study it calls Project Jim, a crash effort to sequence the entire genome of a single individual. The results are likely to be made public this summer. Anonymity is out of the question: It has already been announced that the genome belongs to James D. Watson, winner of the Nobel Prize and co-discoverer of DNAs structure. Watson wont be alone: Harvard Medical School has approved a plan by computational geneticist George Church to sequence and make public the genomes of well-informed volunteersincluding his own. And J. Craig Venter says his nonprofit institute will soon release a complete version of his genome. (Venter contributed the largest share of otherwise anonymous DNA in the human genome sequenced by Celera Genomics in 2000.) These projects are adding urgency to an old issue: What constitutes sensitive genome data, and how should those data be safeguarded? As sequencing costs plummet, more and more individuals will be facing those questions. Watson, 79, says he agreed to have his genome sequenced when he gave a blood specimen 2 years ago to 454 Life Sciences in Branford, Connecticut. His reason was simple: curiosity about my life. He figures that, On the whole, I will gain more from people looking at [the genome] than not. The company has a new resequencing technique that uses public data as a template and relies on massive DNA replication and computerized sorting to lower costs. It would like to show off its prowess. Michael Egholm, 454s vice president of research and development, said in a telephone interview that the companys fundamental vision is to make routine human sequencing affordable. 454 is one of several firms in a race to claim this territory (Science, 17 March 2006, p. 1544). Company staff debated who should be the first person to be sequenced, Egholm

Know thyself. Nobelist James Watson is planning to receiveand possibly sharea complete copy of his own genome sequence this year.

says. After a dinner with scientific advisers, including DNA sequencer Richard Gibbs, according to Egholm, they decided that It had to be Watson. Watson not only accepted but also talked about it to the press. When the project began, 454s equipment wasnt up to the task, Egholm says. But improved technology made it possible to sequence 10 billion bases in multiple overlapping fragments of Watsons DNA in a space of a few weeks early this year. Egholm and 454s academic partners discussed preliminary findings at a meeting of sequencers in Marco Island, Florida, in February. For example, according to Egholm, a comparison between the new data and the reference human genome in public databases suggests that the reference genome is about 97% complete. He adds that Watsons genome has now been sequenced in triplicate, and company leaders and Gibbswho heads the sequencing center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston,
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Texasestimate that a few weeks more work would achieve sixfold coverage, enough for a very high quality diploid genome. The projected cost is about $1 million. Still undetermined, however, is precisely what the project will release. Watson agreed that his DNA sequence should be added to public databases. But he requested at the outset that his ApoE gene statuswhich can indicate a risk for Alzheimers diseasebe blanked out. Company staff then realized, Egholm says, that more might need to be blockedperhaps all genetic loci currently known to be associated with disease risk. Opting to block only high-risk DNA variants would signal that Watson has those variants. Another problem: Some spots now considered innocuous may be linked to disease in the futurea consideration for Watsons sons. As Baylor scientists got involved, Gibbs and ethicist Amy McGuire of Baylors Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy presented the project (without identifying Watson) to the colleges Institutional Review Board (IRB). The first step was to obtain a more rigorous consent. That was done, and the IRB gave its approval on 19 March. But public agencies have given very little guidance, McGuire says, on how to handle privacy and consent issues involving relatives. Baylor and 454 settled on a data release pathway, McGuire and Egholm say. The company will put the completed genome on a DVD and hand it over to Watsonperhaps, Egholm says, with a small ceremony. Watson will accept responsibility for discussing the risks of its release with his family, decide what should be blocked, and determine how and when to make the sequence public. Watson declines to say more until the company is ready to publish an articleby July, he expects. As for Venter, he says he plans simply to release his genome without restrictions.

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Sequencers of a Famous Genome Confront Privacy Issues