Abbreviation HUGO Type INGO Official language English, French | Formation 1989 Region served Worldwide Website HUGO Official website | |
The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) is an organization involved in the Human Genome Project, a project about mapping the human genome. HUGO was established in 1989 as an international organization, primarily to foster collaboration between genome scientists around the world. The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), sometimes referred to as "HUGO", is one of HUGO's most active committees and aims to assign a unique gene name and symbol to each human gene.
History
HUGO was established in late April 1988 at the first meeting dedicated to genome mapping at Cold Spring Harbor. The idea of starting the organization stemmed from a South African biologist by the name of Sydney Brenner, who is known for his significant contributions to work on the genetic code and other areas of molecular biology, as well as winning the Nobel prize in Physiology of Medicine in 2002. A Founding Council was elected at the meeting with a total of 42 scientists from 17 different countries. HUGO is grounded in Geneva Switzerland, and later went on to elect an additional 178 members, bringing the total up to 220.