Dr. Elke Jordan Oral History 

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National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

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Conducted on October 23, 2002, by Jennifer Rogers

JR:      To start, let’s discuss your education and career before NIH.  Has genetics always been your primary field of study?

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EJ:      Okay.

[End Tape 1, Side A]

[Begin Tape 1, Side B]

JR:      Given the difference in cultures between the two agencies that you described, what were some of the ways that you overcame that to work together?

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EJ:      Right.  It was mainly Britain.  France made very significant contributions in certain areas.  Japan was always trying to be onboard, but their whole budget and organizational structure is just so bizarre.  Until recently when human sequencing really picked up, they never quite got their act together.  Now they have a very respectable sequencing center that's making major contributions.  There are some little centers in Germany that have also contributed, but they've never been major players.  The Germans have three little groups rather than having one big group.  If they put those groups together, they could do bigger jobs.  But that's not where they are at, which is fine.  There's a need for all kinds of research.  So international coordination of sequencing the human genome became a real challenge, and the NIH staff and Francis Collins played a major role in holding it together.  Before sequencing it was not as much of an issue, because there were fewer players. 

End of Interview #1

National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

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Conducted on October 30, 2002, by Jennifer Rogers

JR:      Last time when we talked about the first five-year plan, I noticed that there was a strong focus on genetic mapping and physical mapping in the early years of the Genome Project.  Why was it so important to do the mapping before sequencing, and was any sequencing work being done while the mapping efforts were going on?

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JR:      Most definitely.  For being concerned about remembering, the level of detail that you've brought out in these interviews is phenomenal.

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End of Interview #2

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^[1]  Per discussions with Dr. Jordan subsequent to the interview, the editor of Science has backed down and said in the February 14, 2003, issue that he will accept community standards recently promulgated by the National Academy of Sciences [NAS].

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