Harvard president Drew Faust will preside over a Feb 22 panel that will “explore both what has been accomplished since the creation of the Human Genome Map and the ways in which science and society may replace the dragons with additional knowledge and policies.”

The annoucement of the panel frames the debate this way:

While some observers have questioned whether the $3 billion project has contributed enough tangible benefits to humanity, many scientists say that its impact on genomic and medical research — indeed, on the very conduct of research — has been astounding.

In a recent story on the Broad Institue, the Globe framed the debate this way:

Scientists at the Broad and elsewhere have used ever-improving tools to comb the genomes of thousands of people and pinpoint genetic hot spots linked to diseases that range from diabetes to schizophrenia. The approach received a huge vote of confidence in 2009, when the Broads established a $400 million endowment that made the institute a fixture on the scientific landscape of Cambridge.

But the scientists acknowledge that they are still at the beginning. The genes that are involved in common diseases are breadcrumbs — guiding scientists to the beginning of a long trail that involves figuring out what those genes do, how their function might underlie disease, and how to alter their activity in ways that could help people.

Globe video here.

In addition Eric Lander, president and director of the Broad and HMS professor of systems biology, the panel will include:

■Margaret Hamburg, the commissioner of food and drugs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services;

■Vicki L. Sato, a professor of the practice of molecular and cellular biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, and former president of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.