What is the Human Genome Project (HGP)?
The Human Genome Project is an international, large-scale scientific collaboration. From 1990 to 2003, researchers working in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and in several other countries identified the basic composition of the human genome. A great deal of important information resulting from this project is already known; for example: • It is known that the total number of genes is estimated at 30,000, which is much less than what was predicted before the project (around 80,000 – 140,000 genes). • It is known that the order of the nucleotide bases (elements that form the DNA chain) is almost exactly the same (99.9%) between individuals. • It is known that only 2% of genes have the function of expressing a protein. (For more information, please see the HGP’s website in the section “Insights Learned from the Sequence,” http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/project/journals/insights.
The Human Genome Project is an international, large-scale scientific collaboration. From 1990 to 2003, researchers working in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and in several other countries identified the basic composition of the human genome. A great deal of important information resulting from this project is already known; for example: • It is known that the total number of genes is estimated at 30,000, which is much less than what was predicted before the project (around 80,000 – 140,000 genes). • It is known that the order of the nucleotide bases (elements that form the DNA chain) is almost exactly the same (99.9%) between individuals. • It is known that only 2% of genes have the function of expressing a protein. (For more information, please see the HGP’s website in the section “Insights Learned from the Sequence,” http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/project/journals/insights.html) This project is a major accomplishment, but it is also a new
