Joint Genome Institute. Entrance sign to the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), part of the Human Genome Project that is mapping the entire human genetic sequence. The Human Genome Project (HUGO) is an international effort to decipher the three billion base pairs that form the genetic code of human DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) by 2003. The completed genome map will make it easier to identify and study the genes involved in many currently incurable diseases. The JGI, founded in Walnut Creek, California, in 1997, is a collaboration between the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley and Los Alamos National Laboratories.