The Human Genome Project was a 15-year scientific effort that mapped the entire human genome. It was primarily funded by governments in the US, UK, Japan, and other countries and cost $3 billion total. The project successfully identified the locations of all genes within human DNA and provided insights that enable genetically modifying crops, locating cancer cells, and diagnosing genetic diseases prenatally. Key techniques included genetic mapping to locate gene pairs on chromosomes and linkage analysis to determine the distance between disease-causing genes. The project's outcomes include further enabling gene therapy and precisely locating genes responsible for diseases.