Here we report the results of the pilot phase of the project, the aim of which was to develop and compare different strategies for genome wide sequencing with high throughput platforms. To this end we undertook three projects: low coverage sequencing of 179 individuals, deep sequencing of six individuals in two trios, and exon sequencing of 1,000 genes in 697 individuals (Box 1). The results give us a much deeper, more uniform picture of human genetic variation than was previously available, enabling new insights into the landscapes of functional variation, genetic association and natural selection in humans.
