BIOTECHNOLOGY - Inshyna N.M. - 2009

CHAPTER 1. GENETIC ENGINEERING

The Human Genome Project

One of the most remarkable achievements of modern biological science is the decoding of The Human Genome. To this end, the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) was established, with J. Watson elected as the project's chairman.

Work on the Human Genome Project officially commenced on October 1, 1990, in the United States under the auspices of the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The project's initiatives

were funded by the governments of Great Britain, France, Canada, Germany, and Japan. In April 2003, the Human Genome Project was successfully completed.

The Human Genome Project is a large-scale research initiative aimed at achieving complete sequencing of the human genome. Its various directions include constructing genetic and physical maps of all Human Chromosomes; sequencing the genomes of various model organisms; developing computer technologies for Processing and analyzing DNA Sequencing data; informing the public about issues related to obtaining and applying Human Genetics data; and examining the ethical, legal, and social implications of genetic research.

Within the framework of the "new technologies" subprogram, the genomes of the bacterium E. coli, the Yeast S. cerevisiae, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and the mouse Mus musculus were fully sequenced.

Scientists from around the world contributed to the realization of the Human Genome Project. In March 1986, the first conference dedicated to human genome research was held in Santa Fe, California. By the end of 1989, over 30 million NUCLEOTIDES had been sequenced, with a decoding rate of approximately 1 million nucleotides per year. Over the course of the project, significant breakthroughs were achieved in optimizing DNA sequencing technology:

- with The Use of automated fluorescent sequencers, sequencing speed increased from 10,000 Base Pairs per day in 1990 to 50,000 in 1996;

- the cost per base pair dropped from 5 USD in 1990 to 0.3 USD in 1996.

Today, it is known that the human genome contains 3.5 billion nucleotides (25–30 thousand genes). The number of nucleotides in the human genome is comparable to the number of printed characters. A single page of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia accommodates 10,000 characters. Each volume contains approximately 700 pages, amounting to 10 million characters. Therefore, 3 billion nucleotides would require nearly 300 volumes!

Genetic and physical maps of the human genome have been successfully created. A genetic map indicates the relative positions of specific loci along a chromosome, whereas a physical map represents the complete nucleotide sequence of a chromosome, consisting of a set of ordered DNA clones.

Information regarding human DNA sequences is stored in the Databases of various research organizations (such as LocusLink, the NCBI database, and GeneCards, a database maintained by the Weizmann Institute of Science).

The official U.S. government website for human genome research has been established at: http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/index.html

In the future, advancements in Introduction/32.html">Genetic Engineering will make it possible to improve the human genotype and eradicate the genetic roots of various diseases.