NHGRI's Oral History Collection: Interview with Shirley Tilghman

Shirley M. Tilghman, Ph.D. is the President Emerita and Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. She was also the founding director of the university’s multidisciplinary Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. In this oral history, Dr. Tilghman talks about the initial opinions and perceptions of the Human Genome Project, the challenges it faced as well as its victories. She also talks about what has defined the legacy of the Human Genome Project.

Questions asked in this interview:

00:19 - Who encouraged you to become a scientist early in your career?
02:42 - What were some of the original opinions of the Human Genome Project?
04:08 - In the early 1980s, who was leading the discussion about the Human Genome Project?
05:14 - Share your perception of how the Human Genome Project transitioned from the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) to the NIH.
06:18 - What was James Watson's early role and his overall legacy for the Human Genome Project?
07:11 - What are your thoughts about the establishment of the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Research Program
08:22 - Who were the other members of the committee behind the Alberts Report and what were their major recommendations?
12:38 - Do you remember the year you were brought to the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research?
12:50 - What was the mood of the community when James Watson was dismissed and Michael Gottesman was brought in as acting director?
15:16 - Name some challenges the Human Genome Project faced along with some of the victories it achieved between 1993-96.
17:50 - Was the Human Genome Project a scientific enterprise or a technology-driven enterprise?
19:08 - What was happening when model organism sequences were being added to databases?
19:50 - What scientists were considered the insiders and the outsiders for the Human Genome Project?
20:48 - Did the character of the Human Genome Project change as fewer labs and investigators were involved?
24:09 - Were there any surprises during the time that sequencing was scaling up?
24:28 - What are your thoughts regarding data release and data standards that came out of the Bermuda meeting?
28:38 - How were you recruited as chair of the NHGRI Sequencing Advisory Panel?
29:18 - Why was 1999 a critical moment for the Human Genome Project?