Craig Venter. Portrait of American geneticist Dr. Craig Venter, founder of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA. He is standing beside cryostorage units at TIGR. These units freeze samples of human cDNA (comple- mentary DNA) to a temperature of -80 Celsius, for later use in gene research. TIGR was founded in 1992 as the largest gene sequencing laboratory in the world. Here the structure and function of human genes is analysed. At TIGR, cDNA ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) are produced; these tags" enable copies of human genes to be mapped. Mapping human genes will enable the development of gene therapies for inherited human diseases."