Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Program
Human Genome News Archive Edition
In this issue...
HGP and the Private Sector
In the News
Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues
Web, Publications, Resources
Meeting Calendars & Acronyms
Post-Sequencing Research Challenges
The working draft DNA sequence and the more polished version planned for 2003 or sooner represent an enormous achievement, akin in scientific importance, some say, to developing the periodic table of elements. And, as in most major scientific advances, much work remains to realize the full potential of the accomplishment.
Early explorations into the human genome, now joined by projects on the genomes of dozens of other organisms, are generating data whose volume and complex analyses are unprecedented in biology. Genomic-scale technologies will be needed to study and compare entire genomes, sets of expressed RNAs or proteins, gene families from a large number of species, variation among individuals, and the classes of gene regulatory elements.
Deriving meaningful knowledge from DNA sequence will define biological research through the coming decades and require the expertise and creativity of teams of biologists, chemists, engineers, and computational scientists, among others. A sampling follows of some research challenges in genetics--what we still wont know, even with the full human sequence in hand.
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The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.
Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.