And of course, identifying all human genes and proteins will have great medical significance.

First of all, many human diseases are influenced by, if not caused by mutations in genes.

So I applied to medical school and received a scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis. Washington University turned out to be a lucky choice. The faculty was scholarly and dedicated and accessible to students.

The glimpses of human strength and frailty that a physician sees are with me still.

In the late 1970s, when I was a professor at Caltech, I pioneered four instruments for analyzing genes and proteins that revolutionized modern biology - and one of these, the automated DNA sequencer, enabled the Human Genome Project.

At every stage of my career I have had interesting and cordial colleagues, some of whom are close friends.