The Human Genome Sequencing Project And Was It Worth Doing?

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic acid. Deoxyribonucleic corrosive is an atom that conveys a large portion of the hereditary guidelines utilized as a part of the improvement, working and propagation of all known living creatures and numerous infections. The National Institutes of Health and Welcome Trust from the London UK and Craig Vendor of Celera Genomics from Maryland USA at the same time exhibited the grouping of human DNA in June of 2000, finishing the first significant attempt of the Human Genome Project (HGP) (Ridley 2). As researchers connection human attributes to qualities fragments of DNA found on one or a greater amount of the 23 human

Over the last 10 years scientists have been involved in the progression and completion of the Human Genome Project. "Scientists working on this project have developed detailed maps that identify the

Technology can be amazing if used in the right way and not used to harm people. The genome project leaves endless results of what is achievable through technology. Could someday, someone build an entire human from xenotransplantation. Could someday, there be a drug where you will never die anymore. The life expectancy from the last one hundred has already risen fifty percent to seventy-five years due to medicine. Who says this can’t keep growing now that it’s almost possible to have a xenotransplantation where you could get a “brand new heart or lungs that were grown in a pig.” Also, the fact that we can now predict what disease a baby is going to or can have by ten weeks after they are conceived, makes me wonder are we ever going to have worry about getting a surprise new health condition in our life.

The Goal of the Human Genome Project is to obtain genetic mapping information and to determine the complete sequence of all human DNA by the year of 2005. The project started in 1990 and 180 million dollars are being spent on it annually. This adds up to a total of over 2 billion dollars for the 15 year budget. Of this 2 billion dollars budgeted, 5% is spent annually on the ethical, legal and social issues. This report focused on some of these issues.

The Human Genome Project, also known as HGP has helped our society crack the code in the small differences between human DNA that make up our health and can already pinpoint future illnesses. HPG was an international joint research preparation with the goal of mapping and trying to understand all the human genes sequences through generations. Researchers have been able to decode our genomes and understand them in three different ways. First off they have been able to see that our genome’s DNA has a certain order, and that order helps make up who we are; Secondly they are able to map where certain genes are and where they are located on the chromosomes. And third, being able to produce “linkage maps” that can help track inherited traits

The President’s DNA Initiative* (2007) which developed the first nationally-used, online theoretical base for DNA analyst training and is still in use today.

The Human Genome Project also referred to as HGP, has really captivated the world at the birth of the 21st Century and it has surely revolutionized the biology field. The project itself commenced officially in 1990 and scheduled for 15 years duration. HGP is so vast and complicated in nature that the most essential goals of the project had to be narrowed down to six; Identify approximately 30,000 genes in human DNA, determine 3 billion sequences of chemical base pairs which compose human DNA, Storage of developed information in databases, improve data analysis tools, transfer related technologies to the private sector and address the (ELSI) – Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues related to HGP. The total US HGP came with a huge price tag of around 3 billion US dollars.

The Human Genome Project (HGP) follows a different approach in discovery. It’s an inward approach rather than the more usual outside exploration just like our voyages in outer space. The Human Genome Project (HGP) was the international, collaborative research

The Human Genome Project is beneficial to society because it helps create individualized medicine. The Personal Medicine Coalition writes, “Patients with melanoma, leukemia, or metastatic lung, breast, or brain cancers are now routinely offered a “molecular diagnosis” in some clinical centers; this allows their physicians to select tailored treatments that can greatly improve the chances of survival”(4). According to The Personal Medicine Coalition, they explain how the advances in technology has helped create individualized medicine for sick patients. The Human Genome Project uses sick patients and research to then come up with the solution of individual medicine because not everyone is the same and react differently to certain types of medicine. The individualized medicine is increasing the survival rate of the people who have deadly

Many people in our lives die from hereditary diseases and our genetic makeup is almost completely responsible for the traits we are born with and unfortunately stuck with. However the genes and genetic predispositions responsible for these common and rare hereditary diseases have been identified, which allows diagnosis of these diseases in prenatal stages. What if we as humans could choose to improve ourselves and our offspring by a series of genetic testing and germline gene therapy to produce a genetically strong, fit, and perfectly healthy offspring? Would our ancestors, if given the opportunity, choose to design the perfect descendants that would be idealized human assets? I believe that given the opportunity as humans we should have the option to create and enhance our new and stronger genetic line for our offspring as a way to improve the human design. In many cases such as The Human Genome Project led by James Watson, a pioneer in genetics, initially started out as searching for cures to genetic ailments, but like many experiments it became less focused on cures and was driven more towards enhancements. In this essay I will be discussing the positive and negative outcomes of genetic engineering, explaining the moral factors, and the possible consequences that will affect both “naturally born” humans and genetically manipulated humans socially.

Genomics and genome sequencing branched out from the modern genetics field of biology. In 1865, Gregor Mendel became the father of modern genetics. He was the first person to cross breed plants to see how physical traits were passed on from generation to generation. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA (Timeline). Frederick Sanger developed a method for rapidly decrypting DNA to determine the order of bases in a strand in 1977. In 1990, the Human Genome Project (HGP) was started. It was an endeavor that intended to develop the technology needed to map genomes, as well as to map human, mice, and fruit fly genomes. This project ended in 2003 when the human genome was completely mapped up to 99.9% accuracy (Timeline).

Following the discovery of DNA’s structure, the research possibilities that could be conducted on the DNA that makes up all of life was endless. In 1961, the genetic code for protein synthesis was discovered by Marshall Nirenberg. Also in 1977, Frederick Sanger developed the “rapid DNA sequencing” technique to determine the bases’ order in a DNA strand; this would later be known as the Sanger method. Huntington’s disease was the first genetic disease to be mapped in 1983, and was later isolated in 1993. Also, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the technology still used today to amplify DNA, was developed in 1983. Lastly, in 1989, the mutation for cystic fibrosis was discovered, and in 1990 scientists found the

"Research and technology efforts aimed at mapping and sequencing large portions or entire genomes are called Genome projects"(Congress, 202). Genome projects are not the effort of a single organization, but instead are groups of organizations working in government and private industry throughout the world. The controversies surrounding the Human Genome Project can be better explained by explaining the structural and moral aspects of the project. Begun in 1990, the US Human Genome Project is a 15-year effort coordinated by the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. It's purposes are to identify all the estimated 80,000 genes in human DNA, determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical bases that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, and develop tools for data analysis.

The Human Genome Project (HGP), an international scientific research project, has educated the public tremendously on various topics concerning DNA and genetics. This study has been beneficial to communities alike. As stated, the HGP sought to identify all the genes in human DNA, determine the sequences of the three billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, improve tools for data analysis, transfer related technologies to the private sector, and address the ethical, legal, and social issues that may arise from the project. In favor of achieving these goals, scientists studied the genetic makeup of several nonhuman organisms (Human Genome Management Information System, 2011).

To begin discussion about the HGP, we first must understand what it is. It is a massive undertaking of collaboration of geneticists that begin in 1990. Their goals are to identify all the estimated 80,000 to 100,000 genes in human DNA and determine the sequences of 3 billion