At that time, David Galas was Director of the renamed “Office of Biological and Environmental Research” in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and James Watson headed the NIH Genome Program.
Daquela, David Galas era o Director da rebautizada “Oficina de Investigación Biolóxica e Ambiental” na Oficina de Ciencia do Departamento de Enerxía, e James Watson encabezaba o Proxecto Xenoma dos NIH.