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- title = The Human Genome Project
- papers = The Human Genome Project, What
- Is It?
-
-
- What would you do if you were given the power to change your genetic
- code from brown hair to blond?. Man has had this ability through natural selection
- for some time without knowing it, but in the near future scientist will be
- able to speed the process of natural selection by changing a persons genes.
- Scientists have identified what constitutes human DNA located in the nucleus
- of a cell. The Human Genome Project was established to identify the genes
- that make us who we are and is now an international organization. The massive
- task of identifying the numerous gene combinations has created a problem.
- In the nucleus are 22 genomes, plus two sex chromosomes which have already
- been identified. In the 22 genome there are approximately 3 billion base
- pairs of DNA which contain 50,000 to 100,000 genes, a basic unit of heredity.
- The identification of these base pairs is the goal of the Human Genome Project,
- which started in 1990 and whose job it is to identify the letters or chromosomes
- in DNA. These letter
- s represent nulcleotides called adenine, guanine, thyamine,
- and cytosine (or A, C, T, G). ('92 BSCS pg. 1)
- The Human Genome Project
- idea originated in the mid 1980's and was discussed in the scientific community
- and media through the latter part of that decade. In the United States the
- combined effort of the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health
- were involved in the project planning. (The National Center For Genetic Reasearch)
- The Human Genome Project has several goals including identifying the genes
- of a human assessing the genes and comparing human DNA to that of bacteria,
- yeasts, the fruit fly, mice, and the Arabidopis thaliana, a small genome plant
- that grows rapidly. A major purpose is to determine how evolution proceeds
- from lower organisms to humans, and discover why the smaller genomes of animals
- have less junk or unneeded DNA.
- Geneticists use two types of maps to characterize
- the genes they discover--a genetic linkage map and a physical map. A genetic
- map registers the distance between the fragments of DNA we know according to
- the frequency with which they are inherited. The physical map measures the
- actual physical distance between two markers. Scientists want to map and develop
- technology for rapid genotyping, plus develop markers that are easy to use
- as well as generate new mapping techniques. (Instrumentation) Scientists
- can map genes but it is still expensive. One of the ongoing goals of the Human
- Genome Project is to get the cost of mapping a gene down to 50 cents per base
- pair. ('92 HSCS pg.3)
- The enormous information that is and has been generated
- by the project is used to link sites together around the world through the
- internet and now some information can be acessed by the general public. Another
- of the project goals is to create a sequencing capacity at a collective rate
- of 50 Mb per year. This is supposed to result in the completion of 80 Mb by
- the end of FY 1998.
- Many people question whether the Human Genome Project
- is worth the money spent on it and will it be used negatively toward those
- who have traits that are considered undesirable by insurance companies and
- other corporations? The HUMAN GENOME ORGANIZATION has a council of scientists
- and doctors worldwide who meet to discuss the effects of identifying an individual's
- genes. In the 1996 Genetics Confidentiality and Nondiscrimmination Act an
- attempt to addresss this issue as noted in Section 2, " The DNA molecule contain's
- an individual's genetic information that is uniquely private and inseparate
- from one's identity. Genetic information is being rapidly sequenced and understood.
- Genetic information carries special significance. It provides information
- about one's family, and more importantly, provides information about one's
- self and and one's self perception."
- Genetic information has been misused,
- harming individuals through stigmitization and discrimination. The potential
- for misuse is tremendous as genetics transcends medicine and has the potential
- to penetrate many aspects of life including health and life insurance, finance,
- and education. Experts advocate that genetic information should not be collected,
- stored, analyzed, nor disclosed without the individual's authorization. Current
- legal protections for genetic information is, however, inadequate. Uniform
- rules for collection, storage, and use of DNA samples are needed to protect
- individual privacy and prevent discrimination while permitting legitimate
- medical reasearch. The report further states that the reading of a minors
- DNA should be only with parental or legal guardian consent and only if the
- analysis benefits the individual. The need for legislation on reading genes
- must be addressed prior to the final research breakthrough on this controversial
- issue in order to avoid discrimination against
- and protection of individuals.
- Nineteen states have already enacted laws that ban genetic discrimination.
- The positive uses, however, for the Human Genome Project far outweigh the
- negative.
- While the Genome Project has major work yet to be done much
- has already been accomplished. A significant discovery is that over half
- of the genes sequenced were previously unknown even though mass genetic mapping
- had taken place over the last decade. The project revealed that yeast has
- 12 million base pairs and 6,000 genes. The yeast gene has already provided
- scientists with a valuable insight into medical disorders such as cancer, neurological
- problems, and skeletal disorders. The project was completed some two years
- ahead of schedule because of mass automation and the fact that over a 100 laboratories
- in the United States, Canada, European Union, the United Kingdom, and Japan
- participated in the research. The genes were sequenced 55 % by the Europeans,
- 17 % by the Sanger Centre, 15 % by WUSL, 7 % Stanford Universioty, 4 % by MCGill
- University in Canada, 2 % by the Institute of Physical and Chemical ReasEarch
- in Japan. The start of the Yeast Genome hunt began in 1950 when Robert Mortimer
- tried to
- map all of the genes in the DNA of the yeast organism. Then in
- the 1980's Maynard Olson made a physical map of the genes of yeast by cloning
- overlapping DNA fragments. The project spent some 30 million dollars to finish
- the study.( Yeast Genome Sequenced)
- The Human Genome Project is a continuing
- quest and will be supported for several years until it completes the entire
- gene sequence for humans and compares it to the genes of the other organisms.
- The planned goals until 1998 include completing a sequence tagged site physical
- of the human genome at a resolution of 100Kb. The organisms that are supposed
- to be identified are a map of the mouse at a resolution of 300Kb, Escheria
- Coli and Drosophilia melanogaster and bringing C. elegans to near completion
- . Comparisions of mice DNA with selected portions of human DNA are areas of
- high biological interest. The organiztion will continue to identify issues
- and policies surrounding the ethical end of the genome debate, foster greater
- acceptance of human and genetic variation, enhance and expand public knowledge
- and professional education, diversify and expand the transfer of technology
- both into and out of centers of genome reasearch. The price of reasearch is
- increasing as more and more labs become invol
- ved with the project. The projects
- goals are projected to cost almost 200 million annually in comparison with
- 170 million for the FY 1994.
- The knowledge and potential that the Human
- Genome Project will produce are astronomical. Identification of inherited
- diseases could be found in the fetus and then changed to both save lives and
- prevent devasting diseases. The Human Genome Project is, and will, be an ongoing
- project for many years to come. Today we know just one-tenth of what research
- will reveal in a short few years yet we already have the knowledge to change
- and alter genes. Currently, this power is limited but in the near future scientist
- will have control over a factor originally associated with only natural reproduction.
- Undoubtly, man will continue to be progressive and aggressive in this field
- of research. And who knows--maybe the reality of Jurassic Park literally
- is only a few years away.
-
- Bibliography
- The Human Genome Organization.
- http://hugo.gdb.org/
- Imapact of the Human Genoe Project www.gdb.org/Dan/Doe/prim5.html
- Instrumentation.
- www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human-genome/resource/instrumentation.html
- " Microorganism's
- Genetic Information Yields Scientific Suproses, Poteneial Biotech Applications"
- www.ornl.gov/TechResources /HumanGenome/archive/methanoc. html
- Revised 5 Year
- Reasearech Goals of the U.S. Human Genome Project. Human Genome News, November
- 1993
- The Genetics Copnfidentially and Nondiscrimination Act- Summary
- The
- Science and Technology of the Human Genome Project, The American Medical Association,
- 1992
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