The Human Genome Project
The goal of the Human Genome Project was to map the human genome. A genome is all the genetic material of an organism. Therefore, the goals of the Project were to complete a high quality sequence of all DNA contained within humans, and discover all genes that are encoded within human DNA.

The project officialy started in 1990 and was expected to cost USD$3 billion and last 15 years. However, due to technological advances in the field of gene technology and a higher amount of international cooperation than was initially expected, the project finished both ahead of schedule and under budget. The project took 13 years and cost approximately USD$2.7 billion dollars.

A rough draft of the human genome was published in 2001, and a final working version of the genome was published in 2003. Approximately 99% of the genome is mapped currently, with an error rate of less than 1 in 10,000 base pairs (99.99% accurate.) This is as accurate as we can be using current technology. Significant advances in genetic technology will be necessary before scientists will be able to map the remaining .1% of the genome.

While the DNA sequence is 99% completed, work continues to be done on identifying individual genes, which are the actual sequences of base pairs (also called ‘nucleotides’) within DNA that encode proteins.

The Human Genome Project was an international effort. The effort was initiated and spearheaded by American governmental organisations such as the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Energy, but various universities and research institutions located throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, and Japan did the majority of the work.

Copies of the entire human genome can be downloaded using the Internet from various organisations throughout the world, which all contribute to a global database called the GenBank. These organisations are the U. S. National Center for Bioinformatics, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory of the European Bioinformatics Institute, and the DNA Data Bank of Japan.

A private American company called Celera Genomics was formed in 1998 to pursue the mapping of the human genome in order to commercialize and profit from it. They utilized an experimental new technique called "shotgun sequencing" to sequence the genome. While not as accurate, the new technique was faster and much less expensive than the more reliable method employed by the Human Genome Project, and Celera Genomics was able to sequence the human genome using only USD$300 million in funding. Celera Genomics had planned to patent and thus profit from all genes that it found within the genome, but US President Clinton declared that the information within the genome could not be patented, as it was a product of nature. Celera Genomics then decided to pool its knowledge of the human genome with that of the Human Genome Project, resulting in a higher quality genomic sequence.

The Human Genome Project and genomic research in general is important for several reasons, and impacts many different scientific fields. The field of molecular medicine in particular has been advanced greatly due to the sequencing of the human genome. Pharmaceutical companies and research laboratories are currently using the information contained within the human genome to create treatments for various diseases. With the current level of genomic information available, doctors can detect genetic disorders earlier than ever before, and can therefore begin treatments sooner. There also exist applications of genomic research in the fields of anthropology, bioarchaeology, evolution, and human migration theory. Researchers can now compare a complete human genome against a genome from some other organism in order to determine how closely related the two organisms are at a genetic level.

An interesting fact about the Human Genome Project was that it devoted a considerable amount of its time and resources into examining the ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding the Project, and genomic research in general. Therefore, the Human Genome Project established the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications Research Program (ELSI). The goals of ELSI are as follows:
External Links
All links within this section were active on 7/4/2005.