Starting in 2005 as a pilot experiment with 10 individuals, the Harvard Personal Genome Project (Harvard PGP) pioneered a new form of genomics research. The main goal of the project is to allow scientists to connect human genetic information (human DNA sequence, gene expression, associated microbial sequence data, etc) with human trait information (medical information, biospecimens and physical traits) and environmental exposures.

Project participants consent to provide biological samples from themselves in order to perform whole genome sequencing, and use of these materials for biological research. The project now has over 5,000 participants.