The Human Genome Project Research

637 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Roles and importance of genetics in our society

Is it possible to eradicate disease entirely? A half-century ago, little was known about how disease was affected by genetics. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA. In the mid 1970’s, ways were developed to determine the order, or sequence, of the chemical letters in DNA. The Human Genome was completely unknown to man until 1990, when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Energy teamed up with international partners to complete the entire 3 billion base pairs of the Human Genome. The goal of this project was to understand the genetic factors in human disease and to hopefully find ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease. The Human Genome project has supported an Ethical, Legal and Social research program to address the many issues that might arise from this study. The Human Genome Project should continue because it has the potential to unlock the cure to countless diseases. In April 2003, researchers successfully completed the Human Genome Project, more than two years ahead of schedule. The Human Genome Project has already led to the discovery of more than 1,800 genes that cause disease (“NIH Fact Sheets…”). As a result of the Human Genome Project, researchers can find a gene suspected of causing an inherited disease in a matter of days, rather than the years it would have taken before. “One major step was the development of the HapMap. The HapMap is a catalog of common genetic differences in the human genome. The HapMap has accelerated the search for genes that have a say in common human disease, and have already produced results in finding genetic factors involved in conditions ranging from age-related blindness to obesity”(NIH Fact Sheet). The Can... ... middle of paper ... ...e, not only humans are being affected by this project. As a result of the Human Genome project Americans can make our crops more resilient with increased size. Why stop there? The Human Genome Project could be used to affect our livestock, making them mature faster and even making organs more compatible with humans (Narcisse). The Human Genome Project is essential for the human race to advance. With the ability to decimate human disease and even boost food resources, people will increase life expectancy alongside decreasing the percent of people around the world who go hungry each day. There can even be limits placed on Legal aspects of The Human Genome Project results that appease civil rights activists and will preserve ethics and diversity while still improving mankind. Humans will never have to fear disease or hunger. The future looks bright for all of mankind.

Show More
Related

  • Ethical Issues Surrounding Genetic Screening and Genetic Engineering

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1990, the first great stride of genetics took place. This was called the Human Genome Project, a large-scale operation that was designed to understand the human genome (genetic structure). Since its commencement, there have been many leaps and bounds that have taken place. For certain genetic issues that we once knew nothing about, we no...

    Read More

  • Race for the Double Helix: An Analysis

    2257 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...hich inherited traits, such as those for genetic disease, can be tracked over generations. Throughout out the course of human development, scientists will continue to find new new ways to help the human race through the discovery of the human gene inside of each of us, its uses, as well as complications, that can help the survival of our species.

    Read More

  • Mapping the Human Genome Vision

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past, the discovery of human disease genes has historically been an arduous undertaking. Extensive and exhaustive studies of genetic inheritance and pedigrees in generations of families led to the discovery of the color blindness gene on the Y chromosome in the early 1990's. As more biological tools became available, the pace of gene discovery increased. However, much of the biological laboratory practices were still rooted in intensively manual procedures. With the introduction of computing power in the mid-1980's, disproportionate amount of resources were being applied to hundreds of individual gene discovery efforts, such as Huntington's Disease and muscular dystrophy. It was with this realization that a large-scale effort at mapping the human genome was undertaken and in 1990, the Human Genome Project was deemed possible and launched officially by the National Institute of Health (Pollack 1,2).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Genomics

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    In April 2003 this project was successfully completed with a high-quality version of the full human genome available for public view. Advantages: Genomics and the Human Genome Project are having huge positive effects on the economy of many places like China, Germany, France, Spain and many more. The Human Genome Project has brought in over $800 million dollars since 1990 and given about 4 million jobs since 2003, which has enabled millions of people to stay off the streets and support their families.

    Read More

  • Human Genetic Engineering in Beneficial to Society

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    Modification of the human genome will occur as a natural result of genetic research, even if it does not directly pertain to reshaping human DNA. In areas such as agriculture and breeding, genetics already plays an important role in determining success. In just a few decades, genetically altered crops went from laboratories to farmland, foreshadowing the success of similar projects in humans in the future. Techniques scientists use to adjust the nature of plants are antecedents to slightly modified procedures that are today used to change the DNA of animals. In Redesigning Humans, Gregory Stock describes a specific way genetics is already used to determine traits, saying, “This is not pie-in-the-sky genetic design. Capecchi’s lab has already used the technique…in a mouse chromosome” ...

    Read More

  • The Future of the Human Genome Project

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    Can you imagine knowing your own genetic code? Going into the doctor for a routine physical and leaving with the knowledge of your genetic downfalls so that you may prevent disease and cancers. This may seem unbelievable but it is likely to be implemented in the near future. Since the start of the human genome project, the medical community has been anxiously awaiting its completion because the applications it has to this field are obviously enormous. However, we still have much to learn about genetic variability and the information we gain can be used to prevent, repair, and eradicate illness.

    Read More

  • Genetically Modified Babies

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    It was not that long ago that there was an age of no internet or computers. Life around the world has changed dramatically in the past thirty years. Technology has advanced at faster rate than ever before. We now know about many new things including humans including our DNA. It seems as though, the more we learn about the make up of our bodies, the more we are learning how to manipulate them. Do we want to let science take over our natural way of life? Russell Powell of the Journal of Medicine & Philosophy agrees that there is a common worry that humans could be harmed by genetic engineering of humans. The problem, Powell says, could potentially lead to the extinction of human life. By reducing human genetic diversity, we could end up with a biological monoculture that may increase our susceptibility to deadly diseases.

    Read More

  • The Debate Over Gene Patenting

    2724 Words  | 6 Pages

    In June 2000, the publicly funded Human Genome Project (HGP) and the private firm Celera Genomics Inc. announced that they had completed sequencing the human genome. This unprecedented accomplishment is expected to enable doctors to diagnose, treat and even prevent numerous genetic diseases. As these two entities worked on sequencing the human genome, there was also a separate and less publicized race to patent as many human genes as possible.

    Read More

  • The Genome Revolution

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    Assessing the consequences of the information that the Human Genome Project may yield must be taken into consideration; the medical benefits must be weighed on a balanced scale with the ethical and moral ramifications to properly size up what we will do in the future. Residents of the Rio Grande Valley must be prepared to deal with the positive and negative aspects of this modern revolution that we call genetics.

    Read More

  • The Human Genome Project

    1524 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 bases composed of adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The project is being funded jointly by the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health. This massive undertaking is estimated at a cost of three billion dollars, with the most current target date for the project's completion at the year 2003. They will then store this information in a centralized database so it can be used as tools for their analysis. Also as a first for science, they are going to address the logical, ethical, and social issues that the project will give rise to.

    Read More

  • The Human Genome

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    You may think that you have full control over your body, the way you look, how you dress, and even how you do your own makeup. You have control over your hair color, how much knowledge you have, and even how strong you can be, but could you imagine having control over how tall you would like to be, the color of your eyes, and potentially the color of your very skin? Can you imagine altering EVERY aspect of yourself, including the omission of disease? These are some of the questions that the USDE hopes to find solutions to through The Genome Project. The Genome Project has been an ongoing project since 1990 and was finally completed on April 14th 2003.

    Read More

  • Ethics, Business, and the Human Genome Project

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    The debate over the importance of a Human Genome Project can be cleared up by looking at what the human genome actually is, and why knowing its DNA sequence can be beneficial to the scientific and the human community. The human genome is made up of about three billion base pairs, which contain about 100,000 genes. The 100,000 genes in the 46 human chromosomes only account for a small total of the DNA in our genome. Approximately 10 percent of our DNA make up these genes in our genome, these genes are what is actually encoded for and used by our body to make vital proteins needed for everyday life. The remaining 90 percent of our three billion base pairs are repeated sequences between genes that do not encode for any particular product. These repeated sequences account for the reason why 99 percent of any humans DNA is identical to another human's (1). With this knowledge many people believe it is not worth the time or money to sequence the entire human genome when only a small percent is used to encode for proteins. However, by sequencing the whole genome researchers will no longer have to do a needle in the haystack type of search for small genes, like the one found on chromosome four that is responsible for Huntington's disease (4). Also, knowing the complete human DNA sequence will allow scientists to determine the role and importance of the repeated DNA, non-protein encoding, sequences in our body.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues of Genetic Screening

    2857 Words  | 6 Pages

    As we approach the 21st century, we as a society are increasingly bombarded with technical advances. One such area of advancement is the research involved with the Human Genome Mapping Project (HGMP). HGMP is a multi-billion dollar world wide research collaboration interested in sequencing the entire human genome. Started on October 1, 1990, with a group of over 350 labs, and expected to finish within the next 5 to 7 years, the Human Genome Mapping Project has given rise to many important advancements and many discoveries about the genetic make-up of humans (Bylinsky, 1994). With these advances come many ethical questions and concerns. The ability to screen an individual for specific disease will, in the future, play a major role in each of our lives. Genetic screening is defined in Genethics, by Suzuki and Knudson (1990), as "the examination of the genetic constitution of an individual - whether a fetus, a young child or a mature adult - in search of clues to the likelihood that this person will develop or transmit a heritable defect or disease."

    Read More

  • Human Genome Project Essay

    3148 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Human Genome Initiative is a worldwide research effort that has the goal of analyzing the sequence of human DNA and determining the location of all human genes. Begun in 1990, the U.S. Human Genome project was originally planned to last 15 years but now is projected to be complete in 13 years. This project was started to find the 80,000 - 100,000 human genes and to determine the sequence of the 3 - billion chemical bases that make up human DNA. The information generated by the human genome project is expected to be the source book for biomedical fields, including those such as developmental biology and neurobiology, where scientists are just beginning to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms. The human genome project is expected to immensely benefit medical science. It will help us to understand and eventually treat many of the more than 4000 genetic diseases that afflict mankind, as well as the many multifunctional diseases in which genetic predisposition plays an important role. New technologies emanating from the genome project will also find application in other fields such as agriculture and the environmental sciences.

    Read More

  • Medical Advances

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another area of medical advancement is genetic engineering. Genetic engineering will detect and possibly stop diseases before birth. Many diseases are associated with specific genes that can be checked for disease and replaced if dysfunctional. Genetic testing has already revealed genetic mutations that cause hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer, polycystic kidney disease, Alzheimers disease, and others. (5) Replacing missing, altered, inactive, or dysfunctional genes will prevent diseases or even death. Also, progression of a disease can be monitored, and

    Read More

More about The Human Genome Project Research

Open Document