The Human Genome Project :: Science Genetics Papers

The Human Genome Project Imagine having the recipe to make a human being. Knowing its entire genetic make-up from beginning to end. Sounds far fetched, well it isn’t with the latest scientific achievements in sequencing the Human Genome. It’s only a question of how far we will take this information to get an understanding of its full potential. The Beginnings: Long before there was a formal Human Genome Project (HGP), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Institute of Health (NIH) and some of their predecessor agencies were interested in developing more sensitive methods to detect changes in our genetic make-up, induced by ionizing radiation, and to begin understanding the related health effects due to this type of exposure. It has been know for some time that the genetic-information containing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the molecule in the cell that is the most sensitive to the effects of radiation and other pollutants, even at low levels. One can only begin to imagine the impact it will have, in the pharmaceutical, and medical fields as well as how research will change, once we have our complete genetic make-up spelled out.(www.ornl.gov/hgmls/publicat/judges/aren.html) In 1984, researchers got together at a conference to discuss a single question. The question being asked was if modern DNA research provided an adequate way of detecting genetic mutations. Particularly, if there was sufficient evidence to indicate an increasing mutation rate in those people and their descendants, who survived the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. The overwhelming conclusion was, not yet, and so this was the underlying question-answer series that sparked the idea for the formation of the Human Genome Project. (www.ornl.gov/hgmis/publicat/tko/01_forword.html) In 1988, the DOE and the NIH signed a memorandum joining them in a combined effort to sequence the human genome. Then just two years later, on October 1, 1990 the official clock began counting down, signaling the journey and adventure to sequence the entire human genome. (New England Journal of Medicine, July 1, 1999) It was evident that once this project was completed it would furnish a highly detailed and accurate genetic reference guide that others could use to build on, without having to repeat the sequencing process from scratch. Originally the goal of the project was to have a completely sequenced genome within15 years. Due to improved sequencing techniques and the increased competition generated by the private sector, a "highly accurate" version of the human genome is set to be completed by the year 2003.