On February 25 – 28th, 1996 50 leading scientists from the United Kingdom, the United States of America and other countries from around the world met in Bermuda with one clear mission: to sequence the first complete human genome. The Human Genome Project (HGP) took place between 1990 and 2003 – in a global first, various internationally recognised institutions contributed to its completion.

One main issue regarding the groundbreaking project was the uncertainty around ownership and accountability of the resulting gene sequences. Would the lab that sequenced them get a patent on that gene and sell the sequence for a profit? Or would they be made publicly available to advance scientific research? At this 1996 meeting, entitled “The International Strategy Meeting on Human Genome Sequencing”, the participants agreed that all gene sequences would be made public to further scientific progress in all fields. This agreement was created in a document called the Bermuda Principles.