The human genome project was a large, international scientific research project with the goal of determining the sequence of nucleotide base pairs that make up human DNA and of identifying and mapping all of the genes in the human genome. It began in 1990 and was completed in 2003. The project involved generating chromosome maps, large-scale DNA sequencing of the human genome, and annotation of the sequenced DNA. The human genome project has led to applications in medical diagnosis and treatment, microbial research, DNA forensics, and improvements in agriculture.