Robert Cook-Deegan Collection on the Human Genome Project
Collection
Identifier: BRL-006
The collection consists of research materials on the Human Genome Project (HGP) collected by Robert Cook-Deegan. It includes correspondence, reports, meeting materials, and oral histories that document the early stages of the HGP. These materials were assembled while Cook-Deegan was authoring his book The Gene Wars: Science, Politics, and the Human Genome. Select portions of the collection have been digitized and are available via DigitalGeorgetown and the BRL website. Detailed inventories to the collection are available online: [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3]
The collection includes oral history interviews (recordings and transcripts) with a number of individuals who were involved with the HGP, including: Walter Gilbert, Robert Sinsheimer, Renato Dulbecco, Nancy Wexler, Mark Pearson, LeRoy Hood, Ken-ichi Matsubara, James Wyngaarden, James D. Watson, Bernadine Healy, Bradie Metheny, John Burris, Bruce Albert, Charles Cantor, Charles DeLisi, Eric Lander, and Jack McConnell.
Materials are open without restrictions.
Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.
According to the NIH Human Genome Research Institute, “The Human Genome Project (HGP) was the international, collaborative research program whose goal was the complete mapping and understanding of all the genes of human beings.” The project ran from 1990 to 2003, when the full sequence was completed and published. Robert Cook-Deegan published The Gene Wars: Science, Politics, and the Human Genome in 1994, which documents the early history of the HGP.
Source: NIH Human Genome Research Institute "What is the Human Genome Project?"
22 Cubic Feet (in 44 manuscript boxes)
English
The collection consists of research materials on the Human Genome Project (HGP) collected by Robert Cook-Deegan. It includes correspondence, reports, meeting materials, and oral histories that document the early stages of the HGP. These materials were assembled while Cook-Deegan was authoring his book The Gene Wars: Science, Politics, and the Human Genome. Select portions of the collection have been digitized and are available via DigitalGeorgetown and the BRL website.
The collection is divided into three sets of accruals. Each set corresponds to a distinct addition to the collection in the order in which they were received.
Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.
Donated by Robert Cook-Deegan in approximately 1994. The accession numbers associated with this collection is BRL-2001-0001.
In July 2013 four boxes of materials were added to the collection. In February 2014, five additional boxes were added to the collection.
Select portions of the collection have been digitized and are available online via DigitalGeorgetown. These include oral history interview transcripts, reports, and correspondence. The full text of The Gene Wars: Science, Politics, and the Human Genome and its bibliography are also available.
The collection was received by Anita Nolen around 1994. It was processed by Charles N. Norton in 2014. Three sets of inventories were assembled, with supplementary information, by Norton and Dr. Laura Ruth Barry. They were assisted by Georgetown University students Jennifer Young, Joseph Wiedemer, Jade Walsh, Rebecca Kruser, Ta-Chueh Melody Hsu, Mary Laura Scalise, Rachel Cox, and John Sperry Nickerson. Portions of the collection, including reports and oral histories (recording and transcripts), were digitized at this time and made available via DigitalGeorgetown. John Zarrillo updated the guide to the collection for DACS-compliance in July 2020.
Part of the Bioethics Research Library Archives Repository