Hey!

                  Here’s a little website which is created by me for my Biology Term Project.It is important that,you(readers) should read it compeletly and  in order to learn as much as possible.It will be also easier since website has been developed in a certain way to allow readers to not have any questions or misunderstood points.So enjoy…

Road to HGP

In order to understand “Genome Project” and topics related to that,we should know some basic terms and facts about genetics.So here is a little intro for rest of our journey:

             

Chromosome:Chromosomes contain genetic information of an organism.

Gene:Gene is the unit of heredity.Genes must be found on an organisms’s genome.

Genome:Genome is the complete set of DNA’a of one organism,similar to a map.

Genetic:Genetic studies on heredity and variety of organisms’ .

Biotechnology:Simply biotechnology is technology standing behind and supporting biology. Bio technicians provide tools for biologists and try to make our lives and our environment safer and better.

DNA: DNA(Deoxyribonucleic acid) contains genetic orders for organisms.Let’s think about our body as a LEGO toy,and our chromosomes are pieces of LEGO.In this case DNA is the instruction manual,telling customers what and how to do the final product.

What is Human Genome Project(HGP)?

Genome Project was an universal contribution done between 1990-2003 in order to sequence and map all of the human genome.It was predicted to take 15 years but with collaborative effort it ended 2 years earlier than it expected.Draft has been released at 2000 and complete one released at 2003.It was leaded by US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health but many countries joined and supported the Project. Although %8 of human genome didn’t get sequenced but other %92 got sequenced with %99,9 accuracy.       

How HGP Was Done/The Process?

To start off in order to sequence a whole genome you don’t need to know whole base pair,because as the matches for base pairs are always same(Adenine and Timine,Cytosine and Guanine).Also,considering a human genome approximately has 3 billion base pairs,it is not a quick process.But considering EVERYTHING we have can be found on our genome,there is no wonder why it is that complicated

            To sequence our genome,scientists took samples from some volunteers and then removed the information papers on sampling tubes(containing name,age,gender etc.)Scientists call sequencing technique as BAC(Bacterial Artificial Chromosome).Whole genome has been fragmented to smaller pieces(between 150.000-200.000 base pairs for each group).All fragments were cloned in a bacteria in order to replicate and sequence them.About 20.000 BACs were used for mapping whole human genome.After that,each group gets cut into even smaller groups(about 2.000 bases in length) and those little groups are where sequencing reaction happens.Later on their products are sent to a sequencer which which sequences each base about 10 times and these bases represent human DNA in a BAC clone.Than computer programs are used to read the genome map and look at the results and analyze them.

Aim of HGP and Benefits of HGP

Main goal of Genome Project was mapping and sequencing all of the DNA base pairs(about 3 billion pairs at human body) found in the human genome.Actually project reached is goal and we learned some fascinating things about our genomes.Simply, aim was to “crack” pretty much every gene at human body.As diseases,genetic disorders,mutations are directly  connected with genome,knowing the map of our genome would help human race dramatically at biotechnology,which means more effective medications,faster diagnostics,more effective disease preventation. Genomes of two different human  are %99 same and what makes difference is arrangement of genes.Let’s say we are trying to a cure a group of patients for common cold and drug X is used for the whole group.As each patients genetic arrangement is different,their response to treatment,speed of recovery etc. will be different.If we know certain genes which causes common cold,we can offer different treatments for each patient.

Genome Project can also help humanity for solving crime scenarios and also information and info. We get from our genomes can be used at history,anthropology and geography.How? If we can know  human genome we can Access to the information lying on our past,and information can be used to Also as our genes carry out our “past”.We can use the information for evolution theory. 

Ethical, Legal and Social Issues

            Altough HGP unveils some crucial information for humankind,as always there is a lot of problems. Since there is a lot of problems ethically,legally and socially,%5 percent of budget gone to Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications(ELSI) program.One of them is budget(not suprisingly),because making a genome map of someone is still pretty expensive(costs about 1-2 million dollars)Also in order to testify theories and combinations really expensive computers are used and they have to run some biotechnechnical programs for long periods.

Ethically there is huge problems that still needs to be solved.Genome gives people more information then you know about yourself.So storing them properly and securely is already a big big problem.Also,who will have access to them?President,minister?As we said before storing somebody’s genome without his will(or even with his will) is definitely against for privacy policies and laws.Also at future genetic information may change policies of  insurance companies.For example Mr.Smith’s genome contains genes which can make him cancer at future,insurance company may  refuse to give him health insurance because they won’t earn any money,all of payments will be spent at future.

Legally,for crimes and investigations looking at somebody’s genome is neglection of someone's privacy.One way or another,they are going to find out a lot more than things needed to be found for case.If governments have access to genomes of citizens,then they are not respecting our protecting privacy.

Results

·         Damaged base pairs increases chance of health problems by heredity.

·         Humans have more repetitive gens than any other mammal.

·      There are approximately 20,500 genes in human beings, about the same range as in mice.That is one of the reasons why rats are used for genetic and medicine/drug studies.

·         Number of genes we have are much smaller than we thought.

·      Most importantly, techniques found out at HGP changed the way scientitsts and researchers approach to genetics.

        

-Interview with Dr.Irfan Daskiran-

To start off thanks for giving us your time.

            No problem

Can you tell me what is your job,what do you do on daily basis?

I am a livestock engineer,my job is related to animal production and breeding.We are coordinating animal breeding(new breeds,breeding methods,increasing yield characterestics of livestock animals) projects and implementation in Turkey.

Why do you need genome?

            In order to improve milk and meat production livestock breeders need high capacity,high value animals.If we can estimate some animals’ genetic characteristics we can present high stood stood animals in a shorter time.

How do you use genome information?

We are taking consideration genetic characteristics of animals for breeding and improving yields(meat and milk) of animals.Genome is used to predict an animals’inclination for meat and milk production.20-25 years ago we used this technique to determine it’s inclination:

For  example you pick 5 male goats and give each goat 10 female goats and after you inbreed we look the keep track of their children’s milk production.The problem is a female goat stays pregnant for 5 months and in order to perform sexual activity male and female goats need to be at 1-1,5 years.So approximately you have to wait 2 years at least in order to get young animals.After you pick female ones,they also need 2 years more in order to gain ability to perform sexual activity.And by the time young goats start to produce milk,their fathers are already dead.

Now, we can map their genome and analyze them on computers,now we can find the genes which increase milk production and compare them with their possible partners,it saves us energy,money and time but also we can create generations that can produce more milk and meat(artificial selection)

Thanks again.

            My pleasure…

What Can We Discover,More?

What Can We Discover,More?

We are not done with experimenting and sequencing our genome.We still don’t know what each base pair affects exactly,and when we are done with that,we can solve pretty much any disease. For example as we still don’t know what each gene does we still don’t know why a mother doesn’t reject her baby,altough it lives like a parasite on mother’s body.Also now there is HapMap project which studies mapping haploid genome of human.HGP results and founding are highly used in that project. This is just the beginning.

Referances

Internet:

• https://www.genome.gov/
• http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/hgp?show=all

Magazines:

• Science Mag- 16 February 2001: Vol. 291 no. 5507 pp. 1304-1351 
• Initial Sequencing and Analysis of the Human Genome-MacMillian Magazines | NATURE | VOL 409 | 15 FEBRUARY 2001

Articles:

• Understanding the Human Genome,Douglas L.,Brutlag.Ph.D.
• A Guide to Your Genome-National Human Genome Research Instititute

Final Words

Endless possibilities,endless benefits... HGP was a milestone for biochemistry and for humanity.We are not done and hopefully when we are done we will be able to control our future…

Hope you enjoy the website.I really do think this is one of the most easy-to-understand materials at internet for HGP. There is no copying or stealing.All of the product is original.You can leave comments and ask questions whenever you like…