Two independent international research groups applied long-read DNA sequencing to samples from the 1000 Genomes Project, unveiling an unprecedented view of structural genetic variation across diverse human populations. They assembled more complete human genomes, resolving centromeres and segmental duplications and identifying over 175,000 sequence-resolved structural variants. The studies, published in Nature, demonstrate the complexity and rapid evolution of centromeric regions and revealed novel variants undetected by previous technologies. These comprehensive maps provide valuable data to enhance precision medicine and disease association studies.