Introduction:
Before we starting to talk about the Human Genome Project, we would like to talk
about the word “Genome”. Genome is in fact all the DNA in an organism. DNA is
very important to all the organisms in the world, it includes the genes. Genes carry
inheritance information determine the making of all the proteins required by the
organism, and hence determine the metabolism of the organism. DNA is make up of a
sequence of nitrogenous bases: adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine. These bases
repeat to form a genome. In the human, there are 3 billion pairs of bases. All the
organisms have specific genome will different amount of genes, different sequence of
bases in the gene. Organisms with similar DNA are related in different way, the
human genome project is the study on the genome of the human. The project can
bring can bring us to a new era of human knowledge. Moreover, we can compare each
other within the diversity of the organisms.
Begins of the human genome project
In 1985, Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER), U.S. Department of
Energy, Charles DeLisi and David A. Smith commission the first Santa Fe conference
to assess the feasibility of a Human Genome Initiative. The following year,
Department of Energy announces the Human Genome Initiative and the pilot project
began. In 1990, the Human Genome Project Began formally, the project is
coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health.
At the time, the project was expect to last for 15 years, but with advance technology,
the completion date was accelerated to 2003.
The goals of the human genome project:
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identify all the approximate 30,000 genes in human DNA,
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determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up
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human DNA,
store this information in databases,
improve tools for data analysis,
transfer related technologies to the private sector, and
address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the
project.
The process of the human genome project:
The sequence of the human genes is determined, but it is actually the reference
sequence. It does not represent an exact match for any person’s genome, since
genome in human is specific to each person. In the human genome project, the
researchers blood samples in female and sperm samples in male from a large number
of donors. Not all the samples will be examined; only a few samples would be studied.
Because of the privacy, the name of the sources will be protected and nobodies knew
the source of the genome being examined.
The main goal of the project is genome sequence. The complete human genome
sequence is expected to be finished by the end of 2003. In the sequencing of the
human genome, the chromosomes of the human are first broken into much shorter
pieces, shorter pieces are then used as templates to make sets of fragments. The
fragments are separated by gel electrophoresis with fluorescent dyes. The base at the
end of the fragment is identified. computers are used to The original sequence of the
bases in the pieces is generated. Then computer will collect the short sequence of base
in the pieces, and arrange it into continuous stretches.
But after the sequence of base is stretched, the sequencing has to be completed with
high resolution with little error, and annotations and analysis have to be made.
Moreover the sequence have to be totally and freely accessible, therefore the data
from the sequencing has to be submitted to the public database, such as GenBank.
Form the current draft Human Genome Sequence, we can have some knowledge on
the human genome. There are 3.1647 billion bases in the human genome, there are
averagely 3000 bases in a gene, but the size of the genes varies greatly. The largest
gene in human is known as “dystrophin” with 2.4 million bases. In the past, the total
number of genes is estimated to be 80,000 to 140,000, but with the draft, the estimate
is revised to be about 30,000 to 35,000. However, the function of 50% of the
discovered genes is not found.
Even with the sequence of the human genome, the researchers still have to analyze the
sequence, it can be done by comparing with the similar organisms. In the project,
researchers also study the genetic makeup of fly, worm. From the draft, we can know
that the human genome has a much greater portion (50%) of repeat sequences than the
mustard weed (11%), the worm (7%), and the fly (3%). Scientists are studying on the
evolution of human comparing with other organisms in respect of life span, size,
interbreeding and genetic drift.
The researchers can find the genes associated with some of the diseases. Over 30
genes have been pinpointed and associated with breast cancer, muscle disease,
deafness, and blindness. Further investigations will be made in the medical respect.
The other goal of the project is to improve the tools for analysis for the research of the
genetics, transferring part of the project to the private sectors can lighten the burden
of the federal government, it can also allows a larger source of expert to participate in
the project. Moreover, the application of the project is related to multibillion-dollar
U.S. biotechnology industry, transferring the project to the private sectors can diverse
the aspect of research.
Benefits of the Human Genome Project:
The human genome project reveals the DNA variation, knowing the effect of this. It leads
to a better understanding on the human biology which can lead to solve many disease, the
study of the organism’s DNA sequence can lead to the utilize of them in the aspect of
energy source, agriculture and environment cleanup.
Applications of the Project:
Impact on the medical research: the specific DNA sequence is associated with the
certain kind of common diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis,
and cancers, study on the DNA may lead to a new effective therapies. It improve the
diagnosis and the treatment of those disease. Moreover, with better knowledge to
these diseases, we can detect the diseases earlier and therefore the patient can be
treated earlier, it leads to a higher chance to recover. Knowing the cause of the
diseases is the disorder of the genes, the doctors or scientists can “repair” the gene and
design an effective system of drug against the diseases. Moreover, with the human
genome sequence, scientist can study how genes and protein work together in an
organism.
Impact on the bacteria genomic: the DNA sequence of many bacteria is also
determined in the project. We can know much more about the bacteria, we can know
the nature of the bacteria better. In fact the bacteria can affect human’s society greatly,
and we can make use of the bacteria in many ways. Department of Energy initiated
the Microbial Genome Program to sequence the genomes of bacteria useful in energy
production, environmental remediation, toxic waste reduction, and industrial
processing. First of all, we may study on the bacteria or pathogen cause diseases, and
new medicines can be design against them or to kill them. We may also use the
bacteria to produce a new source of energy, which is known as biofuels, like
photosynthesis, the bacteria may also produce renewable resource even in the extreme
environment. With the biochemistry knowledge of the bacteria, many industries can
make use of the bacteria for biotechnology. Biomanufacturing will use nontoxic
chemicals and enzymes to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of industrial
processes. Moreover, bacteria can be used to protect the environment by detecting the
pollutant, decomposing the waste chemicals. For example, biodegradable products
can be produced to replace the toxic chemical product with the better knowledge of
bacteria nature.
Impact on the risk assessment: with better know to the human genome, scientists can
assess the impact of radiation exposure, including low-dose exposures to the human
or exposure to mutagenic chemicals and cancer-causing toxins. Those substances can
affect the genes of human, but we a better knowledge of our genes, scientist may
reduce the impact of them to us, or prevent them from affecting us.
Impact on identification: it is fingerprinting technology, the DNA sequence of each
person is specific, people can make use of this property to identify the potential
suspects whose DNA may match the evidence left at crime scenes. Moreover, we can
make use of DNA fingerprinting to identify the catastrophe victim, who may not be
identified easily by appearances. It can be used to identify the endanger species which
have their own genes, it is also an application to classification; new species may be
identified easily. Determining and identifying which kind of bacteria or
microorganism being a pollutant and reduces the pollution with the knowledge to the
nature of those organism. With the genes, we may determine whether the organ
donors match with the recipient in a transplant program.
Impact on the agricultures: with a better knowledge to the plants and animals genome,
scientist can create stronger plants or animals by changing their genes maybe through
artificial breeding. The plant maybe disease-, insect-, and drought-resistant, the yield
of the crops can be increased too. For animals, the livestock can be healthier, more
productive, and disease-resistant. Moreover, the nutritious content can be increased in
the similar way. Farmers can therefore increase the yield but reducing the cost, since
the crops and the livestock are healthier and need no pesticides. The farmer can save
the cost and the environment can the conserved.
Problems associated with the project
The privacy and the morality are the main counterargument of the project.