The Human Genome Project
What is The Human Genome Project and how does it relate to the identification and treatment of cancer?
The Human Genome Project, which began in 1990, is a government-funded project to sequence all 3 billion base pairs of the human genome and to map all of the human genes (30,000 to 35,000 total) on the 46 chromosomes. After the atomic bomb was developed and used, the US Congress charged the Department of Energy to study and analyze the effects of by-products of radiation such as those caused by the atomic bomb. It was determined that the best way to do this was to analyze the entire human genome. In conjunction with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and several international partners, including the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Germany, and China, the following goals were set:
- to identify all genes in human DNA
- to determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA and store this information in databases
- to develop tools for data analysis
- to address the ethical, legal, and social issues that may arise from the project
A first step in this goal was met when researchers announced that they had completed a working draft (90 percent of the human genome sequence) in 2000. Although knowing the location of all of the human genes on the chromosomes is a monumental achievement, there is much more work to do before this information can be used to diagnose, treat, or predict the occurrence of all disease.
Scientists are using the information from the Human Genome Project:
- to understand how cancer develops in the first place, and what makes some people with cancer respond well to treatment (and never have a recurrence of cancer), while others develop cancer again, despite treatment.
- to develop tests to detect cancer in its earliest stages.
- to develop new treatments for cancer that are specific to an individual, based on their tumor type and/or genetic background.
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