The Human Genome Project
...analyzing the structure of human DNA and determining the location of the
estimated 100,000 human genes. The DNA of a set of model organisms will be
studied to provide the information necessary for understanding the functioning
of the human genome. The information gathered by the human genome project is
expected to be the source book for biomedical science in the twenty-first
century and will be of great value to the field of medicine. The project will
help us to understand and eventually treat more than 4,000 genetic diseases that
affect mankind. The scientific products of the human genome project will include
a resource of genomic maps and DNA sequence information that will provide
detailed information about the structure, organization, and characteristics of
human DNA, information that constitutes the basic set of inherited
"instructions" for the development and functioning of a human being.
The Human Genome Project began in the mid 1980's and was widely examined
within the scientific community and public press through the last half of that
decade. In the United States, the Department of Energy (DOE) initially, and the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) soon after, were the main research agencies
within the US government responsible for developing and planning the project. By
1988, the two agencies were working together, an association that was formalized
by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to "coordinate research and
technical activities related to the human genome". The National Center for Human
Genome Research (NCHGR) was established in 1989 to head the human genome project
for the NIH. NCHGR is one of twenty-four institutes, centers, or divisions that
make up the NIH, the federal government's main agency for the support of
biomedical research. At least sixteen countries have established Human Genome
Projects.
The Office of Technology Assessment...
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