# Human Genome Assembly **Domain:** Genomics / Computation / Reference Infrastructure **Doc Type:** Canonical Process Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Human genome assembly** is the computational construction of ordered reference sequences from many shorter DNA reads or fragments. An assembly is a model and coordinate system, not a literal complete genome shared identically by all humans. ## Nexus Context The 2000 public working draft transformed distributed sequence data into a navigable reference. [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] highlights Jim Kent's GigAssembler and UCSC's rapid public release. Assembly requires resolving overlaps, repeats, gaps and alternative placements. Every reference therefore carries version, provenance and representational choices. Later assemblies and pangenome efforts address limitations of a single linear reference. ## Continuity Context Genome assembly is a powerful analogy for reconstructed persons only if its limit remains explicit. Ordering fragments can reconstruct a reference architecture; it does not prove the recovered system has the first-person continuity of the source. ## Sources / Provenance - UCSC Genome Browser history: https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/history.html - NHGRI Human Genome Project fact sheet: https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/educational-resources/fact-sheets/human-genome-project ## See Also [[wiki/UCSC Genome Browser|UCSC Genome Browser]], [[wiki/Restoration Integrity|Restoration Integrity]], [[wiki/Reconstructed Person|Reconstructed Person]], [[wiki/Provenance|Provenance]]