Human Genome Project

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The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with a primary goal to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA and to identify and map the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint.

The project began in 1990 initially headed by James D. Watson at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. A working draft of the genome was released in 2000 and a complete one in 2003, with further analysis still being published. A parallel project was conducted outside of government by the Celera Corporation. Most of the government-sponsored sequencing was performed in universities and research centers from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Britain. The mapping of human genes is an important step in the development of medicines and other aspects of health care.

While the objective of the Human Genome Project is to understand the genetic makeup of the human species, the project also has focused on several other nonhuman organisms such as E. coli, the fruit fly, and the laboratory mouse. It remains one of the largest single investigational projects in modern science.[citation needed]

The HGP originally aimed to map the nucleotides contained in a haploid reference human genome (more than three billion). Several groups have announced efforts to extend this to diploid human genomes including the International HapMap Project, Applied Biosystems, Perlegen, Illumina, JCVI, Personal Genome Project, and Roche-454.

The "genome" of any given individual (except for identical twins and cloned organisms) is unique; mapping "the human genome" involves sequencing multiple variations of each gene. The project did not study the entire DNA found in human cells; some heterochromatic areas (about 8% of the total) remain un-sequenced.

For more information about Human Genome Project, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with human genome project


Genome advances promise personalized medical treatment

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

A whirlwind of activity is under way to apply the findings of the $3 billion Human Genome Project to improve health care in the United States and around the world.





Search results for human genome project


Complete Genomics publishes in Science on low-cost sequencing of 3 human genomes

Complete Genomics reports low-cost sequencing of 3 human genomes

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Complete Genomics, a third-generation human genome sequencing company, today announced publication of a report in the journal Science describing its proprietary DNA sequencing platform, including analysis of seq ...


Genome sequence for the domestic horse to be unveiled

Genome sequence for the domestic horse unveiled

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The whole genome sequence of the domestic horse has been completed by the genome-sequencing center of The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with an international team of researchers that ...


pig

Researchers sequence swine genome

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A global collaborative has produced a first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig, an achievement that will lead to insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution.


New discovery allows scientists for the first time to experimentally annotate genomes

New discovery allows scientists for the first time to experimentally annotate genomes

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Over the last 20 years, the sequencing of the human genome, along with related organisms, has represented one of the largest scientific endeavors in the history of mankind. The information collected from genome ...


Scientists launch effort to sequence the DNA of 10,000 vertebrates

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Scientists have an ambitious new strategy for untangling the evolutionary history of humans and their biological relatives: Create a genetic menagerie made of the DNA of more than 10,000 vertebrate species. The plan, proposed ...


First 'genetic map' of Han Chinese may aid search for disease susceptibility genes

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The first genetic historical map of the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic population in the world, as they migrated from south to north over evolutionary time. was published online today by the American Journal of Human Ge ...


maize

Reference Genome of Maize Published (w/ Podcast)

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A four-year, multi-institutional effort co-led by three Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists culminated today in publication of a landmark series of papers in the journal Science reveal ...


Scientists put interactive flu tracking at public's fingertips

Scientists put interactive flu tracking at public's fingertips

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (4) | comments 1

New methods of studying avian influenza strains and visually mapping their movement around the world will help scientists more quickly learn the behavior of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus, Ohio State University ...


New effort probes how two groups of viruses cause disease

New effort probes how two groups of viruses cause disease

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Purdue University is leading a team of researchers in a federally funded effort aimed ultimately at developing better vaccines and antiviral drugs against two types of disease-causing viruses ...


Newly Discovered Fat Molecule: An Undersea Killer with an Upside

Newly Discovered Fat Molecule: An Undersea Killer with an Upside

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (10) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole ...



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