When initiated, Human Genome Project was a 13-year project. But due to advances in technology, availability of powerful high speed computational devices for data processing, data storing and retrieval facilities, scientists announced the first working draft of entire human genome in June, 2000 and first detailed analysis appeared in February 2001 issue of the journal Nature and Science. The draft described about 85% of the total nucleotide sequences and about 90% of the entire coding region. The project was completed in April 2003, two years ahead of the schedule (This year was the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick’s publication of DNA structure).The transcriptome is the collection of RNA molecules expressed by a genome, while the proteome is the collection of proteins created by the genome. The human genome is made up of 23 pairs of chromosomes. Between 1990 and 2003, the Human Genome Project, an international scientific project, completed the sequencing of all twenty-three pairs. Genomic science is the study and analysis of genomes.

Genome

The genome refers to an organism’s whole nuclear DNA collection. Although some viruses have RNA genomes, the majority of genomes are made out of DNA. Organelles like mitochondria and chloroplast have their own genomes, which are referred to as mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes, respectively.

Both coding genes and non-coding junk DNA make up the genome. The size of an organism’s genome grows in lockstep with its morphological complexity. The human genome has 3.2 billion base pairs. It has around 25,000 genes. Junk DNA can be found in nearly every DNA sequence in the human genome. Individual chromosomes are made up of DNA polynucleotide chains. There are 22 homologous pairs of autosomes and two sex chromosomes in the human genome. 

Multiple genome copies are seen in certain species. A haploid organism is defined as one that contains just one copy of its genome. Diploid, triploid, and tetraploid are all terms for multiple copies. The human genome has a diploid genome, which means it has two copies. When compared to their somatic cells, sexually reproducing organisms’ gametes have half the amount of chromosomes.

The genetic composition of a distinct creature is referred to as the genome of that organism. The Human Genome Project sequenced and mapped the whole human genome. Genome evolution is caused by horizontal gene transfer and sequence duplication. Gene clusters, short tandem repeats, full chromosomes, and even the whole genome may all be duplicated. The study of genomes of related organisms is known as genomics.

Human Genome Project

Human Genome Project is a comprehensive international research effort dedicated to mapping the entire human genome by determining the sequence of nucleotides in the DNA of each of the 22 + X and Y-chromosomes and to study the functions of human genes. It has also been called the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium.

Human Genome Project’s Impact

According to the Human Genome Project, there are around 20,500 human genes. The HGP’s final result has provided the world with extensive knowledge about the structure, organisation, and function of the whole set of human genes. This data may be considered as the fundamental collection of inheritable “instructions” for a human’s growth and function. In February 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium released the first draft of the human genome in the journal Nature, with 90 percent of the three billion base pairs of the genome sequenced.

The collaboration included over 2,800 researchers who shared authorship. This initial draught revealed an unexpected finding: the number of human genes looked to be substantially lower than earlier estimates, which varied from 50,000 to 140,000. In October 2004, 99 percent of the euchromatic genome was finished and released. Francis Collins, then-director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, stated that the genome might be looked at as a book with numerous purposes when the bulk of the genome was published in February 2001: “It’s a history book, a story about our species’ evolution across time. It’s a shop manual with a very precise blueprint for the construction of each human cell. It’s also a game-changing medical textbook, with insights that will enable health-care practitioners unprecedented new abilities to treat, prevent, and cure disease.”

The HGP techniques are also being used to describe the whole genomes of numerous additional animals that are often utilised in biological research, such as mice, fruit flies, and flatworms. Because most organisms have many related, or “homologous,” genes with similar functions, these efforts complement one another. As a result, determining a gene’s sequence or function in a model organism, such as the roundworm C. elegans, has the potential to explain a similar gene in humans or one of the other model species. Of course, knowledge is only as useful as one’s ability to apply it. In order to assure the most rapid implementation of research discoveries for the benefit of mankind, sophisticated means for extensively disseminating the information created by the HGP to scientists, clinicians, and others are required. The HGP benefits biomedical technologies and research in particular.

The enormous ramifications for people and society of having comprehensive genetic information made available by the HGP, on the other hand, were understood from the start. The investigation of the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of our acquired knowledge, and the consequent formulation of policy alternatives for public deliberation, is therefore another significant component of the HGP – and a continuing component of NHGRI.

Conclusion

Other breakthroughs were made as a result of the Human Genome Project, although they are not expected to be realised until much later. An advanced draught of the mouse genome and an early draught of the rat genome were among them. Medical researchers didn’t waste any time in putting the Human Genome Project’s data to use. Fewer than 100 human disease genes had been discovered when the research began in 1990. The total number of disease genes found had climbed to almost 1,400 by the project’s end in 2003. The Human Genome Project focused on an individual’s DNA sequence. The following stage was to compare DNA sequences from various populations.