04 Molecular Basis of Inheritance - part 13 - Human Genome Project

04 Molecular Basis of Inheritance - part 13 - Human Genome Project


Human Genome Project : 
  • Initiated in 1990 under the International administration of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO). 
  • Co-ordinated by the US department of Energy and National institute of health. 
  • Additional contributors included universities across the United States and international partners in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, India and China. 
  • The Human Genome Project formally began in 1990 and was completed in 2003.
  • Is a multinational research project to determine the genomic structure of humans. 
  • The main aims of project are ­-
  1. Mapping the entire human genome at the level of nucleotide sequences. 
  2. To store the information collected from the project in databases. 
  3. To develop tools and techniques for analysis of the data.
  4. Transfer of the related technologies to the private sectors, such as industries. 
  5. Taking care of the legal, ethical and social issues which may arise from project. 
  • HGP (Human Genome Project) was closely associated with rapid development of a new area in biology, called Bioinformatics. 
  • The work of human genome project has allowed researchers to begin to understand the blueprint in building and constructing the human genome. 
  • As researchers learn more about the functions of genes and proteins, this knowledge will have a major impact in the fields like Medicine, Biotechnology and the Life sciences. Therefore HGP is very important. 
  • Human Genome Project was to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billion DNA base pairs that make up the human genome and to find out the estimated number of human genes. 
  • Now about 33000 genes have been estimated to be present in humans. 
  • The project was also aimed to sequence the genomes of several other organisms such as 
  1. Bacteia E.coli
  2. Caenorhabditis elegans (a free living non-pathogenic nematode)
  3. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast)
  4. Drosophila (fruit fly)
  5. plants (rice and Arabidopsis)
  6. Mus musculus (mouse), etc. 
  • Complete genome sequences of these model organisms will be useful for comparative studies that will allow researchers to study gene functions in these organisms.
  • The secret of our complexity may lie not in the number of our genes but how we use them.
  • It will lead to the understanding of gene structure and function in other species. 
  • Since we possess many of the genes same as these of flies, round worms and mice, such studies will lead to a greater understanding of human evolution.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6. Biomolecules - part 01 - Carbohydrates

Image
  6. Biomolecules - part 01 - Carbohydrates Introduction : Our planet is having a wide diversity of living organisms that are classified as - unicellular  (consisting of a single cell; including bacteria and yeast) or  multicellular  having many cells (e.g. plants and animals).  living organisms have cell as the basic structural and functional unit.  The cells have protoplasm containing numerous chemical molecules, the biomolecules. Biochemistry  : Biochemistry is  biological chemistry  that provides us the idea of the chemistry of living organisms and molecular basis for changes taking place in plants, animals and microbial cells.  It develops the foundation or understanding  all biological processes  and communication within and between cells as well as chemical basis of inheritance and diseases in animals and plants. Chemical analysis of all living organisms indicates presence of the most common elements like  carbon, h...
Read more

6. Biomolecules - part 02 - Lipids

Image
  6. Biomolecules - part 02 - Lipids B. Lipids : These are group of substances with greasy consistency with  long hydrocarbon chain containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. In lipids, hydrogen to oxygen ratio is  greater than 2:1  (in carbohydrates it is always 2:1). Lipid is a broader term used for fatty acids and their derivatives.  They are soluble in organic solvents (non-polar solvents).  Fatty acids are organic acids which are composed of hydrocarbon chain  ending in carboxyl group (-COOH).  They can be  saturated fatty acids  with no double bonds between the carbon atoms of the hydrocarbon chain.  Palmitic and stearic acids  found in all animal and plant fats are examples of saturated fatty acids. Unsaturated Fatty Acids  are with one or more double bonds between the carbon atoms of the hydrocarbon chain.  Oleic acid  found in nearly all fats and  linoleic acid  found in many seed oils are example...
Read more

6. Biomolecules - part 05 - Enzymes

Image
  6. Biomolecules - part 05 - Enzymes Enzymes : Thousands of different chemical reactions take place automatically at a given time in a tiny living cell. The reactions take place at the body temperature.  If these enzymes were not present in the cell, either the reactions would not occur or if they occur they would occur at a  very very slow rate . Know the scientists : German chemist  Edward Buchner  discovered enzymes by accident.  Buchner discovered that living cells were not necessary but that  yeast  extract could bring about fermentation.  He then coined the term Enzyme (Gk. En = in, zyma = yeast i.e. in yeast). This term is now commonly used for all biocatalysts. Each enzyme catalyzes a small number of reactions, specifically perhaps only one. Substrate :  The substance upon which an enzyme acts is termed as the substrate.  Endo-enzymes :  The enzymes which act within the cell in which they are synthesizedare known as en...
Read more