Question

Sol. Key concept: Distinguish leadership at the launch of the Human Genome Project from later leadership.

The intended choice among the listed people is Francis Collins. He became director of the US National Center for Human Genome Research in 1993 and led the NIH component of the public Human Genome Project through completion in 2003.

Alec Jeffreys is associated with DNA fingerprinting. Craig Venter led the private Celera sequencing effort; John Sulston and Robert Waterston made major contributions to genome sequencing.

Correction / clarification: The wording “launching leader” is historically inaccurate for Collins. The project began in 1990, when James Watson headed the NIH genome programme; Watson is not listed. Retain b as the official-key answer, with this distinction made explicit. [R2]