    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [April 14, 2003]
    [Page 342]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 342]]

    Joint Proclamation by the Heads of Government Six Countries
    Regarding the Completion of the Human Genome Sequence
    April 14, 2003

        We, the Heads of Government of the United States of America, the
    United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, and China, are proud to announce
    that scientists from our six countries have completed the essential
    sequence of three billion base pairs of DNA of the human genome, the
    molecular instruction book of human life.
        Remarkable advances in genetic science and technology have been made
    in the five decades since the landmark discovery of the double-helix
    structure of DNA in April 1953. Now, in the very month and year of the
    50th anniversary of that important discovery by Watson and Crick, the
    International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium has completed decoding
    all the chapters of the instruction book of human life. This information
    is now freely available to the world without constraints via public
    databases on the World Wide Web.
        This genetic sequence provides us with the fundamental platform for
    understanding ourselves, from which revolutionary progress will be made
    in biomedical sciences and in the health and welfare of humankind. Thus,
    we take today an important step toward establishing a healthier future
    for all the peoples of the globe, for whom the human genome serves as a
    common inheritance.
        We congratulate all the people who participated in this project on
    their creativity and dedication. Their outstanding work will be noted in
    the history of science and technology, and as well in the history of
    humankind, as a landmark achievement.
        We encourage the world to celebrate the scientific achievement of
    completing the Human Genome Project, and we exhort the scientific and
    medical communities to rededicate themselves to the utilization of these
    new discoveries to reduce human suffering.

     His Excellency
            Jacques Chirac,
             President of the French Republic.

     The Honorable
            George Bush,
             President of the United States of America.

     The Right Honorable
            Tony Blair, M.P.,
             Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

     His Excellency
            Gerhard Schroeder,
             Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

     His Excellency
            Junichiro Koizumi,
             Prime Minister of Japan.

     His Excellency
            WEN Jiabao,
             Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China.

    Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this joint proclamation.