In The Gno

Computer-generated image of DNA molecules

Hi, I’m Pyrimidiva, an editorial commentator for In The Gno.  Genes and DNA are part of an amazing and interesting microscopic world; a world that controls what we look like — inside and out — and how we feel, among other things.  Did you ever wonder how we know so much about this incredible world that we cannot see with the naked eye?  Here’s an introduction to the most recent discoveries in the field of genetics.

The Human Genome Project (HGP) is a synergistic effort of international researchers to completely map and sequence the entire collection of genes specific to humans, collectively called a genome. A related, and important, goal of the HGP is to further understand the function of each human gene. The HGP began in 1990 with an estimate of completion by 2005; however, the project was 90 percent complete by 2001. Competition with a privately funded effort sparked a race to the finish line. The entire genetic blueprint was finished in April of 2003 with some unexpected results. A major surprise was the fact that only a mere 20,000 to 25,000 genes comprise our genome. Although this sounds like a relatively large sum, it is rather small compared to the highest estimates around 140,000. Even more surprising is the revelation that humans, one of the most complex organisms on the planet, have a similar number of genes as very simple organisms such as the fruit fly (with almost 14,000), the roundworm (with around 19,000), and the mouse (with about 25,000). The results of the HGP have closed the door on one aspect of the project, but opened doors to many other important avenues of research in the field of human genetics and molecular biology.