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Essay on human genome
Essays on the human genome project
Essay on the nature and meaning of the human genome project
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The Human genome is what makes us what we are as humans. It is made of about 3 billion different parts called nucleotides. (University of California Santa Cruz). The nucleotides are the units that DNA is made up of. One nucleotide is made up of 3 parts called deoxyribose molecule, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. There are 4 kinds of bases in DNA there are adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. DNA is found in the form of a double helix. (Miller and Levine) Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. You get 23 single chromosomes from each parent which come together to make the 23 pairs that make you who you are. (See Shevick)
Sequencing DNA and RNA
Think of sequencing like decoding but a genome is much too long to be decoded all at once so instead scientists pick little bits and pieces of the genome and try to decode that little part. (The Genome News Network) After they have many parts the next step is to put the decoded parts into the right order. It is like a big puzzle or matching game that takes many years to solve.
There are two different ways that scientists use to decode DNA. (The Genome News Network) The first is called the clone by clone method and the other one is called a whole genome shotgun method. In clone by clone they cut the genome into approximately 150 000 base or nucleotide pairs then they use genome mapping to solve where each part should go. Next they cut it into even smaller parts, about 500 pairs so they can work easier with it and decode the information. The other method, the shotgun way, is to break down the genome into much smaller parts decoding them and putting them back together. The first way is a lot slower but more trustworthy where shotgun can be very fast but hard to use. Both...
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Annas G. Who's afraid of the human genome?. National Forum [serial online]. n.d.;73(2):35. Available from: Science Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 2, 2014.
Ascension health Human genome project accessed 2014-03-02 http://www.ascensionhealth.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=172
National Human genome research institute, Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Research accessed 2014-03-02 http://www.genome.gov/10002229
Ethical Legal and social Implications accessed 2014-03-02 http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?20-11.pdf
Biologists Initiate the Human Genome Project. (1999). Great Scientific Achievements (p. 1093). Salem Press.
Jennifer welsh, What Cheap Genome Sequencing Means for the Future of Medicine published Sep. 7, 2012, 9:57 AM accessed 2014-03-02
The PBS documentary “Nova – Cracking Your Genetic Code” tells about the genome sequencing technology: its current possibilities, advantages, disadvantages and future potential. The system became cheaper, faster and more available since the first human genome was fully sequenced in 2000. Modern companies use the technology to provide clients with the information about their genes and impacts they can have on owners’ health. Hospitals can provide more accurate diagnosis and personalized treatments with the aid of the genome sequencing. The video shows several examples of these benefits. But it mentions concerns about the quality of services, risks of exaggerated
Zielinski, Sarah (22 January 2010). Cracking The Code of The Human Genome. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved from www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/henrietta-lacks-immortal-cells-6421299/?no-ist
DNA is the genetic material found in cells of all living organisms. Human beings contain approximately one trillion cells (Aronson 9). DNA is a long strand in the shape of a double helix made up of small building blocks (Riley). The repeat segments are cut out of the DNA strand by a restrictive enzyme that acts like scissors and the resulting fragments are sorted out by electrophoresis (Saferstein 391).
DNA is made up of nucleotides, and a strand of DNA is known as a polynucleotide. A nucleotide is made up of three parts: A phosphate (phosphoric acid), a sugar (Deoxyribose in the case of DNA), and an organic nitrogenous base2 of which there are four. The four bases are as followed: Adenine (A), Cytosine
The more we know about genetics and the building blocks of life the closer we get to being capable of cloning a human. The study of chromosomes and DNA strains has been going on for years. In 1990, the Unites States Government founded the Human Genome Project (HGP). This program was to research and study the estimated 80,000 human genes and determine the sequences of 3 billion DNA molecules. Knowing and being able to examine each sequence could change how humans respond to diseases, viruses, and toxins common to everyday life. With the technology of today the HGP expects to have a blueprint of all human DNA sequences by the spring of 2000. This accomplishment, even though not cloning, presents other new issues for individuals and society. For this reason the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) was brought in to identify and address these issues. They operate to secure the individuals rights to those who contribute DNA samples for studies. The ELSI, being the biggest bioethics program, has to decide on important factors when an individual’s personal DNA is calculated. Such factors would include; who would have access to the information, who controls and protects the information and when to use it? Along with these concerns, the ESLI tries to prepare for the estimated impacts that genetic advances could be responsible for in the near future. The availability of such information is becoming to broad and one needs to be concerned where society is going with it.
The book Genome by Matt Ridley tells the story of the relationship between genome and life by examining the twenty three chromosomes of the human DNA. Each chromosome literally and metaphorically becomes a chapter in the literal and metaphorical book of DNA. In this book of DNA, Ridley examines a particular aspect of the chromosomes chapter by chapter to see how it affects life and humanity’s understanding of life, humans and genetics itself. Although each chapter dives into different aspects of DNA and gathers stories as varied as the genes’ applications, Ridley connects them with important ideas about life and humanity’s understanding of life.
.... Reproductive freedom and risk. Human Reproduction, 21(10), 2491-3. Retrieved February 7, 2011, from http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/10/2491.full.pdf+html.
Watson, James D. "The Human Genome Project: A Personal View." Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. Ed.
Brooks, Jamie D., King, Meredith L., (2008). Geneticizing Disease. Implications for Racial Health Disparities. Center for American Progress. Progressive Ideas for a Strong, Just, and Free America. Retrieved from https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/downloads/2008_geneticizing_disease.pdf
Every cell in our body contains a copy of our genome. A human body contains over 20,000 genes and 3 billion letters of DNA. DNA consists of 2 strands, twisted into a double helix and held together by a simple pairing rule: A pairs with T and G pairs with C. It is our genes that shape who we are, as individuals and as a species. Genes also have profound effects on health and due to advancements in DNA sequencing, researchers have identified thousands of genes that affect our risk of disease. To understand how genes work, researchers need ways to control them. Recently a new method has been developed that allows us to edit the genes of any species including humans. The CRISPR method is based on a natural system used by bacteria to protect themselves
Ridley, M. (1999). Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. New York: HarperCollins.
Neergaard, Lauran. "Bioethics Panel Urges More Gene Privacy Protection." Indianapolis Star. 11 Oct. 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
In today’s world, people are learning a great deal in the rapidly growing and developing fields of science and technology. Almost every day, an individual can see or hear about new discoveries and advances in these fields of study. One science that is rapidly progressing is genetic testing; a valuable science that promotes prevention efforts for genetically susceptible people and provides new strategies for disease management. Unnaturally, and morally wrong, genetic testing is a controversial science that manipulates human ethics. Although genetic testing has enormous advantages, the uncertainties of genetic testing will depreciate our quality of life, and thereby result in psychological burden, discrimination, and abortion.
Genomic sequencing is the process of determining the precise order of nucleotides within a DNA molecule. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four DNA bases – thiamine, adenine, guanine, and cytosine– in the strand of DNA (NHGRI, 2011). In each organism, these bases are arranged in a unique and specific sequence, and it is this sequence that is the genetic code of the organism. Genomic sequencing has had an impact on nearly every field of biological research including human genetics and genomics, plants and agriculture, microbes, medicine, viruses and infectious diseases, environmental genetics and evolutionary biology. By first examining the development of gene sequencing technology we will be able to view its role in evolutionary biology, its contribution to phylogenetics, and how it has changed our understanding of the biological tree of life.
Gribbin, August. "Human Cloning Draws Nearer as Ethics Seek to Draw Rules." Washington Times, 9 November 1998. Newsbank: Cloning February 10 (1999).