Human Genome Project essays

Human Genome Project essays When I first heard of the Human Genome Project I thought it was just some minor study of the human DNA. As I dug into it more, I learned that it is a very enormous study led by the DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) and the National Institute of Health . The study started in 1990 and it is suppose to be finished in the year 2003. Doing this task made me realize how interesting and helpful this Science project is to our population. We as humans now can tell what our body is made up of and how it really functions. We can have a better idea about our differences in the natural world between us and other living organisms. The first thing I wanted to find out what is the study about and what are the goals that scientists want to achieve. I found out that there are many goals of this study. One of the major goals is to identify all of our approximately 30,000 genes that we carry in our human DNA, which is also known as the deoxyribonucleic acid. The DNA is located in the nucleus of a cell. The DNA is made up of 3 billion base pairs. Those 3 billion sequences of base pairs we call a genome, which makes up the complete set of our DNA All human cells contain a complete genome except for the mature red bloodcells. Another goal of the scientists was actually to determine the 3 billion sequences that make up our DNA. DNA in the human genome is arranged into 24 distinct chromosomes. Each chromosome contains many genes. What is a gene? Its the basic physical unit of heredity. The estimate says that there are between 30,000 to 40,000 genes in our body. Scientists arent able to give the exact number yet. The main thing that I learned about and that caught my eye was the statistics of the genome and how scientists have the technology to explore such a small part of the human body. It seems that if they figure this out theyll be able to do anything after that. Its unbelievable how they are ab ...