But DNA chip technology for scanning these so-called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs ("snips"), was prohibitively expensive in 2000.

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These small mistakes are called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs.

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It focused narrowly on areas in and around active genes, ignoring the 98.5% of genomic material known as "junk DNA." This process pinpointed 25, 000 genetic landmarks called SNPS (single nucleotide polymorphisms, or "snips"), places where a single dna letter varies from one person to the next.

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