Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is the Author of ‘The Language of God’ and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He led the successful effort to complete Human Genome Project (HGP), a complex multidisciplinary scientific enterprise directed at mapping and sequencing all of the human DNA, and determining aspects of its function. A working draft of the human genome sequence was announced in June of 2000, an initial analysis was published in February of 2001, and a high-quality, reference sequence was completed in April 2003. From the outset, the project ran ahead of schedule and under budget, and all the data is now available to the scientific community without restrictions on access or use.
Dr Collins received a B.S. from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University, and an M.D. from the University of North Carolina. Following a fellowship in Human Genetics at Yale, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, where he remained until moving to NIH in 1993. His research has led to the identification of genes responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington’s disease and Hutchison-Gilford progeria syndrome. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.
Recent Selected Publications in Science and Religion
- Collins, FS, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, Simon & Shuster Ltd, 2006.
- Collins FS. The Human Genome Project: tool of atheistic reductionism or embodiment of the Christian mandate to heal? Science & Christian Belief, 1999;11:99-111.
- Collins, FS. Faith and the human genome. 2002 ASA Annual meeting plenary address. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 2003; 55:142-153.
Recent Selected Science Publications
- Rothenberg, K, Fuller B, Rothstein M, Duster T, Kahn MJE, Cunningham R, Fine B, Hudson K, King MC, Murphy P, Swergold G, Collins FS. Genetic information and the workplace: legislative approaches and policy challenges. Science, 1997; 275:1755-1757.
- Collins FS, Guyer MS, Chakravarti A. Variations on a theme: cataloging human DNA sequence variation. Science, 1997; 278:1580-1581.
- Collins FS, Patrinos A, Jordan E, Chakravarti A, Gesteland R, Walters LR. New goals for the U.S. Human Genome Project: 1998-2003. Science, 1998; 282:682-689.
- Fuller BP, Ellis Kahn MJ, Barr PA, Biesecker L, Crowley E, Garber J, Mansoura MK, Murphy P, Murray J, Phillips J, Rothenberg K, Rothstein M, Stopfer J, Swergold G, Weber B, Collins FS, Hudson KL. Privacy in genetics research. Science, 1999; 285:1359-1361.
- Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium. Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genome. Nature, 2002; 420:520-562.
- Collins FS. Shattuck Lecture – Medical and societal consequences of the Human Genome Project. New England Journal of Medicine, 1999; 341:28-37.
- Collins FS, McKusick VA. Implications of the human genome project for medical science. JAMA, 2001; 285:540-544.
- Collins FS, Weiss L, Hudson K. Heredity and humanity: Have no fear. Genes aren’t everything. New Republic, 2001; June 25:27-29.
- Collins FS. Foreword. Pharmacogenomics: social, ethical and clinical dimensions. Edited by Mark A. Rothstein. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2003; ix-x.
- Collins FS. Genomics: the coming revolution in medicine. Global Agenda, Magazine of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2003; 152-154.
- Insel TR, Collins FS. Commemorations: Psychiatry in the Genomics Era. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2003; 160/4:616-620.
- Collins FS, Morgan M, Patrinos A. Viewpoint: The Human Genome Project: Lessons from Large-Scale Biology. Science, 2003; 300:286-290.
- Collins FS, Green ES, Guttmacher AE, Guyer MS. A vision for the future of genomics research. Nature, 2003; 422:835-847.
- Guttmacher, AE, Collins FS. Welcome to the genomic era. Editorial: New England Journal of Medicine, 2003; 349:996-998.
