Ayotunde Oyabayo
The Human Genome
What is a genome?
A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome has all of the
information needed to make that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome (more than 3 billion
DNA base pairs) is contained in all cells that have a nucleus.
What is the human genome project?
The human genome project or HGP is a project designated to work out the sequence of all three billion
nucleotide base pairs in the human genome, it was also meant to identify all genes and develop faster
methods of sequencing DNA. The project uses the DNA of several people to get a sort of average
sequence, but each person has a unique sequence (unless they have an identical twin).
How long was the project?
The project was launched in 1990 and by April 2003, researchers said that the Human Genome Project
had completed a high-quality sequence of mostly the entire human genome. However, work continues
today to identify all the genes in the human genome.