The Human Genome Project
The history and evolution of
3/26/2012
Rachel Snyder
The Human Genome Project has been one of the largest collective projects ever
undertaken. Through the Human Genome Project humans have learned much about the science
behind the human body. It has had far reaching consequences and has been responsible for many
of the recent scientific advances, in many areas humans have experienced, and in the future it
will continue to be a springboard for learning about DNA, and the knowledge scientists are
gaining about DNA is forever changing our world.
In 1843 a priest Father Gregor Johann Mendel worked with peas to understand genetics.
Latter in 1869 a Swiss doctor named Friedrich Miescher analyzed the bandages of soldiers. He
found the DNA {which is the abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid} in pus from their wounds.
He guessed it would be an “alphabet” of characteristics that exist because of heredity. In 1953
Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the chemical structure of DNA; from doing this they
earned the Nobel Prize in 1962.
With all of these discoveries the US government formally began the Human Genome
Project in 1990 and it only took 13 years to complete. At first it was expected to take 15 years to
finish but because of advances in computer and science technologies it was completed early. It
was coordinated by the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health.
The Human Genome Project cost over 3 billion dollars to complete. It was also the first
big research project that made scientific data available on the internet. The government gave
private companies grants for innovative research and that made it possible for lots scientist to
help.
Scientists from all over the world worked together to accomplish the goal of identifying
all 20,000 to 25,000 genes in the human DNA {genes are working subunits of DNA}. Another
goal of the Human Genome Project was to learn the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base
pairs that make up human DNA. Parallel studies were conducted on fruit flies, human stomach
bacterium called Escherichia coli as well as mice, to help develop technology to interpret human
DNA.
A genome is the entire DNA in an organism including genes, and genes carry all of the
information for making all of the proteins that are required by all organisms. The complete DNA
instructions for the whole human system is contained in every cell whether that cell repairs a
liver or makes saliva, the only exception is mature red blood cells don’t contain a humans entire
DNA.
DNA is made up of 4 different chemicals they are called bases or nucleotides, the human
genome has 3 billion pairs of bases, and they are abbreviated ACTG A-(for adenine) C- (for
cytosine) T-(for thymine) and G-(for guanine) A always pairs with T and C always pairs with G
and those four chemicals are repeated in different patterns millions or billions of times
throughout a genome. The order of A T C and G’s determine what a living organism is whether
it’s a human, an apple, or a fly and all organisms are made up of the four chemicals ATCG.
A complete DNA looks like a twisted latter because there are two chains of DNA twisted
together. The bases which consist of ATCG’s are the steps of the latter. The patterns are endless
making it possible to produce all of the different life forms we have had on earth including long
dead life forms like dinosaurs.
The amazing thing is that 98.5 percent or our DNA doesn’t code for proteins and has
nothing to do with our genes. {Proteins are nitrogen containing substances that consist of chains
of amino acids found in all living cells.} That means that less than 2 percent of our DNA
actually directs the proteins in our cells as to the way they should code or what they should do,
the rest of our DNA provides things like structural support and regulates where when and how
many proteins are made. Genomes can be large or small. The smallest known genome is in a
bacterium and it has only 600,000 DNA base pairs, a human genome on the other hand contains
3 billion base pairs.
Proteins determine how every living thing looks and how all living things fight infection
or heal themselves or how they metabolize food and can even affect how living things behave.
In the future scientists might learn the complete DNA of non-human organisms, thereby helping
people know how to control all life forms so they can produce more agriculture, different energy,
or help make the environment cleaner.
Research into the DNA of plants is already beginning to produce foods that have better
characteristics like corn plants that contain their own pesticides and tomatoes that stay fresh
longer and now they can produce grains that are more nutritious they are all called genetically
modified foods.
The human genome is arranged in 24 distinct chromosomes which vary in length from
50 million to 250 million base pairs of ATCG’s. The knowledge that The Human Genome
Project acquired about DNA and the way it varies can help people detect and then successfully
treat diseases one day it might lead to people no longer getting sick. Before the Human Genome
Project stated, just to find one disease it could take many years and millions of dollars, whereas
now it can take as little as a few weeks and very little money. The more scientists are able to
learn about DNA and how to replace defective DNA with healthy DNA it becomes a real
possibility that one day all diseases could be cured like major chromosomal abnormalities.
Scientists now believe that many genetic illnesses are caused by a mutation in the
genetic alphabet that is passed from generation to generation. Mutations occur when the DNA
molecules copy themselves but make mistakes during the copying process. That can include
missing or extra copies or big breaks and rejoining’s called translocations.
There are different reasons mutations occur radiation for example can destroy or break
the links in DNA. Disease can also cause mutations in the genetic code. A mutation in the
genetic code that helps a group of people survive a certain disease might latter be fatal if they are
exposed to a different disease.
There are legal and ethical implications because of the Human Genome Project, like if a
person has the DNA that makes them susceptible to get a disease like diabetes in the future could
insurance companies then reject that person and because of those implications new laws have to
be passed to protect citizens. In 2008 a law was passed to keep insurance companies from
rejecting applicants because of DNA testing. Another ethical dilemma is should unborn babies be
tested for genetic mutations and then be aborted if they have them.
Biochemical products are another way the Human Genome Project is helping people. In
1981 scientists began inserting human genes that produce insulin into common bacteria called
Escherichia coli the bacteria then become insulin farms. Other hormones like human growth
hormone are now made this way. The process of using DNA to grow synthetic substances is also
being used to create vaccines.
Another scare because of the Human Genome Project is that the government will gain
too much information about us, through our DNA, and then use that information in detrimental
ways. The US government has been collecting and keeping records of criminals DNA for years.
The government has also collected DNA from military personnel and this information makes
many people uncomfortable.
There are many advances in our society because of the Human Genome Project like DNA
testing that makes it possible to establish paternity as well as family history.
Because of the discoveries of Human Genome Project it has allowed detectives to match
DNA found at a crime scene with a suspects DNA. DNA is in hair, blood, saliva, and skin cells
that flake off. Detectives are able to find a person that committed a certain crime, murder for
example, that otherwise may never has been found. DNA testing has also made it possible for
defendants to prove their innocence.
Today scientists are expanding on the knowledge collected from the Human Genome
Project and instead of studding individual parts of a person like the liver; scientists are now
studding the entire system like they are studding the location and function of all of the proteins
found in a human’s body. Another study that is currently happening is scientists are trying to
map all of the major neural connections in a human brain. Scientists are also working to learn
how gene networks grow worm gonads.
There have been many advances in our society because of the Human Genome Project
and through it the knowledge people have acquired about DNA and this is just the beginning as
Michael Dexter, of Wellcome Trust stated in The Human Genome on page 22, “This is the
outstanding achievement, not only of our lifetime, but in terms of human history. I say this
because the Human Genome Project does have the potential to impact on the life of every person
on this planet.”
Literature Cited
The Library of Future Medicine, The Human Genome Project, The Rosen Publishing
Group, Inc. New York 2003 pages 1-64, by James Toriello
The Human Genome, Nature Publishing Group London 2001, pages 1-140 by Carina
Dennis and Richard Gallagher Forward by James Watson
The Future of Medicine: Making the Connections beyond the Human Genome, Popular
Science The Future and Now Magazine March 2011 pages 64-67, by Brooke Borel
The Glory of Big Data Suddenly we can know the world completely. Next we reprogram
It, Popular Science, The Future Now, November 2011, pages31-33 by Juan Enriquez
Drawing the Map of Life inside the Human Genome Project, a Merloyd Lawrence Book
by Basic Books 2010, pages 1-342 by Victor K. McElheny