Introduction: A race to the future. A brief history of the genome project ; About the map -- Back to basics. Mendel's garden : setting the stage ; Darwin's natural selection ; Cells : a hidden universe ; DNAn : the molecule of heredity ; The central dogma of molecular biology ; Gene mapping and sequencing before the HGP -- Of mice and men, and other creatures. Bacteria ; Brewer's yeast ; Roundworm ; Fruit fly ; Human ; A genome grab bag -- Reading the book of life. Take a look at yourself ; What's in a number ; Linking genes to traits and functions ; Mutation : in the eye of the beholder? ; Population genomics: something for everyone ; Gene regulation and expression -- Genomics applied : tackling cancer. What is cancer? ; Linking genes and cancer ; Surveying gene expression ; Using microarrays in cancer study ; One cancer, many diseases ; Toward personalized cancer care ; Cancer viruses and vaccines ; The future of cancer therapy -- Genes and the roots of disease. Beyond Mendel : modern genetics -- Huntington's disease : an autosomal dominant disease ; Cystic fibrosis : an autosomal recessive disease ; Diabetes : a polygenic, multifactorial disease ; Genes, environment, or both? ; Genes, environment, or both? ; Personalized medicine ; Systems biology : more than the sum of our parts -- The genomics of evolution. Evolution's notebook ; Out of Africa : genomic diversity ; Y chromosomal Adam ; Mitochondrial Eve ; Neanderthals : our lost cousins ; Are we the third chimpanzee? -- A brave new genomic world. Forensic genomics ; Genomes 'r' us ; Learning from Watson's genome ; Stem cells ; A word about cloning ; Prenatal genetic testing and gene therapy ; Legal and ethical concerns ; Our genomic future.