Summary excerpted from the Scout report:

Scientists announced Wednesday [December 19, 2001] that they had deciphered chromosome 20, the largest of the three chromosomes to be sequenced thus far. Researchers hope that this latest advance by the Human Genome Project will help explain why some people are more susceptible to diseases such as diabetes or obesity. Also the gene that seems to make some a higher risk for Cruetzfeldt--Jakob Disease, the human version of Mad Cow Disease, is found on chromosome 20.

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Scientists Sequence Largest Human Chromosome