Francis Collins is in final talks as NIH head

Francis Collins, one of the major players who cracked the genetic code, is in final talks for taking the helm of the National Institutes of Health, reports the Bloomberg News.

As director of the National Human Genome Research Institutes (NHGRI) for 15 years, Collins spearheaded efforts to map the human genetic code. With a lot of help from J. Craig Venter at Celera, the project was completed ahead of schedule in 2003, and opened up a plethora of applications and implications for research into our genetic blueprint.

Collins resigned from the NHGRI position last year, in his own words, to have “greater latitude than my current position allows to pursue other potential positions of service without encountering any possible conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived."