The complete human genome
Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) ConsortiumHuman Genome Project
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
The Human Genome Project was declared "complete" in 2003, but about 8% of the genome could not be read for technical reasons. In 2022 the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium published the first gapless human genome using long-read sequencing. In 2023 a draft "pangenome" including genomes of 47 people of diverse ancestry was also published.
For specialists
The T2T-CHM13 sequence comprises 3.055 billion base pairs, adding about 200 million base pairs to the previous reference, including centromeres, ribosomal DNA arrays and segmental duplications. Being derived from a single hydatidiform mole cell line it is haploid and lacked a Y chromosome, which was completed separately in 2023. The criticism that a single reference cannot represent human diversity motivated the pangenome work.
Claims
- The human genome has been sequenced end to end without gaps for the first time.[1]
Evidence
Supporting
With long-read methods all gaps in the previous reference were closed and about 2,000 new candidate genes were identified.[1]
Challenging
A reference from a single individual does not reflect the diversity of human populations, so a pangenome approach including many individuals was developed.[2]
Connections
Sources
- Article (2022). The complete sequence of a human genome. Science 376, 44–53DOI 10.1126/science.abj6987archive
- Article (2023). A draft human pangenome reference. Nature 617, 312–324DOI 10.1038/s41586-023-05896-xarchive
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). The complete human genome. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/genom/
@misc{athena_genom,
title = {The complete human genome},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/genom/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history