human genome project

How much did the HGP cost US taxpayers?

2.7 billion

What year was the first draft of the human genome released?

2001

What year was the HGP announced as being complete?

2003

How has the HGP affected biological research?

Biological research has traditionally been a very individualistic enterprise, with researchers pursuing medical investigations more or less independently. The magnitude of both the technological challenge and the necessary financial investment prompted the Human Genome Project to assemble interdisciplinary teams, encompassing engineering and informatics as well as biology; automate procedures wherever possible; and concentrate research in major centers to maximize economies of scale. As a result, research involving other genome-related projects (e.g., the International HapMap Project to study human genetic variation and the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements, or ENCODE, project) is now characterized by large-scale, cooperative efforts involving many institutions, often from many different nations, working collaboratively. The era of team-oriented research in biology is here. In addition to introducing large-scale approaches to biology, the Human Genome Project has produced all sorts of new tools and technologies that can be used by individual scientists to carry out smaller scale research in a much more effective manner

What was the name of the private company that entered the race to sequence the human genome?

Celera Genomics Corp

Which was the first human chromosome to be decoded and why was this the first completed?

Chromosome 22; because of its relatively small size and its association with several diseases

Will the HGP bring us new and better medical treatments?

It's important to be careful about raising expectations. Most new drugs based on the completed genome are still perhaps 10 to 15 years in the future, although more than 350 biotech products - many based on genetic research - are currently in clinical trials, according to the Biotechnology Industry Organization. It usually takes more than a decade for a company to conduct the kinds of clinical studies needed to win marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Testing, however, will arrive more quickly, especially the ability to predict individual future health risks, and the ability to implement an enhanced approach to preventive medicine. In the next decade, we may also be better able to determine which drugs work best for individuals, based on their genetic make-up.

Whose DNA was sequenced for the HGP?

The sequence is derived from the DNA of several volunteers

How often is new data on the human genome posted?

every 24 hours

What was the mission of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications program?

identify and address issues raised by genomic research that would affect individuals, families, and society

What the HGP based purely in the US or was this an international effort?

international research effort to determine the sequence of the human genome and identify the genes that it contains. The Project was coordinated by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy. Additional contributors included universities across the United States and international partners in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and China

What are the "Bermuda Principles"? Why were these principles drafted?

leaders of the Human Genome Project agreed that all human genomic sequence information generated by centers funded for large-scale human sequencing should be made freely available and in the public domain within 24 hours after generation. The "Bermuda Principles" were drafted to encourage research and development and to maximize the Human Genome Project's benefits to society - in contrast to the standard practice in scientific research of making experimental data available only after its publication. These principles reshaped the practices of an entire industry and have established rapid prepublication data release as the norm in genomics and other fields.

The knowledge gained from the HGP is expected to have major impacts in which fields?

medicine, biotechnology, and the life sciences

What is it useful to compare human genes with those of other organisms?

researchers can discover the functions of particular genes and identify which genes are critical for life.

After sequencing the genome, what is the next challenge to researchers and scientists?

to determine how to read the contents of all these pages and then understand how the parts work together and to discover the genetic basis for health and the pathology of human disease. In this respect, genome-based research will eventually enable medical science to develop highly effective diagnostic tools, to better understand the health needs of people based on their individual genetic make-ups, and to design new and highly effective treatments for disease. preventative medicine

What were the goals of the HGP?

to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billion DNA base pairs that make up the human genome and to find all of the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 human genes. The Project also aimed to sequence the genomes of several other organisms that are important to medical research, such as the mouse and the fruit fly. In addition to sequencing DNA, the Human Genome Project sought to develop new tools to obtain and analyze the data and to make this information widely available. Also, because advances in genetics have consequences for individuals and society, the Human Genome Project committed to exploring the consequences of genomic research through its Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) program

Inventions in 1977 and 1983 were essential to sequencing a genome. What were these techniques?

1977: Frederick Sanger developed the classical "rapid DNA sequencing" technique, now known as the Sanger method, to determine the order of bases in a strand of DNA, Typically, each of these terminating bases is tagged with a radioactive marker, so it can be identified. Then the DNA fragments, of varying lengths, are separated by how rapidly they move through a gel matrix when an electric field is applied - a technique called ELECTROPHERESIS 1983: Kary Mullis, the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a relatively simple and inexpensive technology used to amplify or make billions of copies of a segment of DNA

In what year did the NIH and DOE publish a plan for the first five years of the Human Genome Project?

1990

What is a genome?

A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome—more than 3 billion DNA base pairs—is contained in all cells that have a nucleus.

Who owns the human genome?

Every part of the genome sequenced by the Human Genome Project was made public immediately

What is informed consent?

The process of educating a person about the test and obtaining permission to carry out testing

Besides the DNA of humans, genomes of other organisms were sequenced. What were these other organisms?

brewers' yeast, the roundworm, and the fruit fly, mouse draft