It has been more than 40 years since the world started its journey to uncover the full genome of the homo sapien species through the Human Genome Project (HGP). In 2003, with much fanfare and headlines, scientists declared the human genome complete and closed the HGP. 

In actual fact, it was not yet complete.

The HGP left about 8% of our DNA unexplored in 2003. These were the hardest to sequence regions with repeating letters that were impossible to read using the technology of that time. That is, until a group of young scientists from around the world came together on the Slack platform, and finished the task in May this year, completing the readout of all 3.055 billion letters across 23 human chromosomes. It uncovered more than 100 new genes and millions of genetic variations, some of which probably play a role in diseases.

As impressive as this sounds, scientists say that the sequencing of a complete human genome is but one snapshot. The next milestone will be to study the genomes of diverse populations beyond the completed one of European descent. When technology has sufficiently matured, comparisons between individuals will be far more meaningful to understand human history, biology and health.