 In the run-up to the HGP there were high expectations (some would say “hype”) developing, which inevitably also brought critics of the project onto the scene (Koshland 1989; Luria et al. 1989). As so often, the issue of funding had a key role to play. When the HGP was initiated there were no ‘big science’ projects being pursued in the life sciences. The HGP therefore was a true first for biology. But pushing such a large project that absorbed a significant proportion of the funding allocated to the biological sciences encountered a lot of resistance from other scientists.