The Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project was started in 1990 and brings together many efforts of scientists worldwide to draw and discover the complete gene mapping within the human genome and to identify the almost 25,000 genes from the human genome both physically and functionally. A draft of this paper, which would normally contain about 30,000 to 40,000 genes, was completed in June 2000. The map shows in detail almost 3 billion base pairs called nucleotides that make almost 2 meters long of DNA sequencing of the human genome within every cell. The genome map also contains genetic landmarks of the 23 chromosomes for locating the genes known to mutate and cause certain diseases and other genes known to repair the DNA sequencing. The project was completed in 2003 by publishing the human genome sequence. The sequence obtained is considered a good for all humanity and was deposited in the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The human genome is not the only one whose sequence has been deciphered. There are genetic maps made for other organisms such as vinegar flies or for E. coli bacteria. Currently the efforts to building this map are concentrated on mice, rats and zebra fish genomes. These genomes can be the leading and primarily source of comparison for the completion of the human genome map. The next step in the Human Genome Project was to detail the current sketch. Researchers are trying to understand the function of all human genes and also want to determine their precise location on the chromosomes. Also, scientists are currently investigating the variations of certain genes on different individuals and how these variations may cause certain illnesses or how and if these variations can influence the administered treatments. Another objective of this project is to determine the role of proteins encoded by different human genes.