The Human Genome Project
At first there was no specific goal in the collection of
sequence data. Each scientist worked on their protein of
interest. When sequence data was published with reports of their work
in the scientific press they were encouraged to submit it to the
databases. The databases therefore contain a wealth of sequence data
culled randomly from a wide variety of creatures. A genome is,
however, the complete set of genes from a single creature.
A series of projects, some still continuing, have been successful in
sequencing the smaller genomes of some bacteria, yeast and
invertebrates. In the late 1980's sequencing technology had advanced
sufficiently to read the DNA sequences of the 100,000 genes thought to
make up the human blueprint. An international effort began in an
effort to achieve this goal.
This Human Genome Project is a decade long endeavour similar in scale
to the Apollo project that eventually put people on the moon. The
number of people involved, the time scale and the financial cost are
comparable. As with the Apollo project, developments associated with
the project are expected to produce technological spin-offs. The main
benefits will come directly from the gene sequences that emerge from
the project. The increased quantity of data will lead to a better
understanding of the way genes and their protein products work. Once
we know the blueprints for life we will be able to develop better
methods for dealing with the diseases that happen when the processes
that control life go wrong.
