HUMAN GENOME PROJECT (HGP)
Can you imagine knowing your own genetic code? Going to the doctor for a routine physical and leaving with the knowledge of your genetic downfalls so that you may prevent disease and cancers. This may seem unbelievable but it is likely to be implemented in the future. Since the start of the human genome project, the medical community has been anxiously awaiting its completion because this applications in this field are obviously enormous.
The Human Genome Project (HGP), formally began in 1990 and was completed in 2003, is one of the greatest feats of exploration in history.
The Project was coordinated by the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Energy. Additional contributors included universities across the United States and international partners in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and China.
It is an international,collaborative research program whose goal was the complete mapping and understanding of all the genes of human beings. All of our genes together are known as the "genome", members of our species, Homo sapiens. It is important because it uses information from DNA to develop new ways to treat, cure, or even prevent the thousands of diseases that afflict humankind.
BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
GOALS OF HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
The main goal of the Human Genome Project (HGP) was to analyze the structure of human DNA while determining the location of genes on the human chromosome making them available for further biological study.
Apart from that, Human Genome Project also includes the following goals:
- identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA
- determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA
- store this information in databases
- improve tools for data analysis
- transfer related technologies to the private sector
- address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project
To help achieve these goals, researchers also studied the genetic makeup of several nonhuman organisms. These include the common human gut bacterium Escherichia coli, the fruit fly, and the laboratory mouse.
It was understood that to meet the project's goals, the speed of DNA
sequencing would have to increase and the cost would have to come down.
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HUMAN GENOME
Before understanding about Human Genome Project, it is necessary to know about human genome.
A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. These information determine, among other things, how the organism looks, how well its body metabolizes food or fights infection, and sometimes even how it behaves.
DNA is made up of four similar chemicals, called bases and abbreviated A, T, C, and G that are repeated millions or billions of times throughout a genome. The human genome, for example, has 3 billion pairs of bases.
The particular order of As, Ts, Cs, and Gs is extremely important. The order underlies all of life's diversity, even dictating whether an organism is human or another species such as yeast, rice, or fruit fly, all of which have their own genomes and are themselves the focus of genome projects.
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ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
In April 2003, researchers announced that the Human Genome Project had completed a high-quality sequence of essentially the entire human genome. This sequence closed the gaps from a working draft of the genome, which was published in 2001. It also identified the locations of many human genes and provided information about their structure and organization.
In addition to that, the Human Genome Project sequenced the genomes of several other organisms, including brewers’ yeast, the roundworm, and the fruit fly. In 2002, researchers announced that they had also completed a working draft of the mouse genome. By studying the similarities and differences between human genes and those of other organisms, researchers can discover the functions of particular genes and identify which genes are critical for life.
The work of the Human Genome Project has allowed researchers to begin to understand the blueprint for building a person. As researchers learn more about the functions of genes and proteins, this knowledge will have a major impact in the fields of medicine, biotechnology, and the life sciences.
CONCLUSION
The Human Genome Project (HGP) has created the field of genomic understanding genetic material on a large scale. The medical industry is building upon the knowledge, resources, and technologies emanating from the HGP to further understanding of genetic contributions to human health. As a result of this expansion of genomic into human health treatment, the field of genomic medicine has been born.
Genetics is playing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of diseases.
