 The publication of the draft genome sequence in 2001 and the conclusion of the HGP in 2003 did not give researchers all the tools and insights they needed to tackle these long-standing problems. But after the HGP, building on the initial sequencing effort, researchers could start to go beyond the mere sequence and gain a deeper understanding of the workings of the genome. This put them in a position to tackle issues such as the significance of junk DNA and the C-value paradox more directly (or at least from a different angle). The post-HGP phase is also characterized by an intense debate about the best way of doing research: the question of whether biological research should best be done on a small or a large scale has come up again and again in the post-HGP era, especially with the rise of other post-HGP large scale projects. The next section will address two projects/research fields that symbolize the various efforts and aspirations that were characteristic of the post-HGP era and which will help to illuminate some of the philosophical issues these developments raised. 