An Analysis of The Human Genome Project, Deciphering the Code of Life

The study of all genera of various organisms will yield answers to some of the most intriguing questions about life: how organisms evolved, whether synthetic life will ever be possible and how to treat a wide range of medical disorders. Human genome contains all of the biochemical instructions in the form of the DNA bases A, T, C and G- for making and containing a human being. The payoff from the reference work will come from understanding the proteins encoded by the genes.

Proteins not only make up the structural bulk of the human body but also include the enzymes that carry out the biochemical reactions of life. They are composed of unites called amino acids linked together in a long string: each string folds in a way that determines the function of a protein. The order of the amino acids set by the DNA base sequence of the gene that encodes a given protein, through intermediaries called RNA; genes that actively make RNA are said to be “expressed”.

The human genome project seeks not just to elucidate all the proteins produced within a human but also to comprehend the genes that encode the proteins that are expressed, how the DNA sequences of those genes stack up against comparable genes of other species, how genes vary within the human species and how DNA sequences translate into observable characteristics. Layers of information built on top of the DNA sequence will reveal the knowledge imbedded in the DNA. These data will fuel advances in biology for at least the next century.

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In a virtuous cycle, the more scientist learn, the more they will be able to extrapolate, hypothesize, and understand.

Will the three dimensional structures of proteins be predictable from their amino acid sequences? A protein’s structure is conserved much more than its amino acid sequence is. Many different amino acid sequences can lead to proteins of various proteins by studying a representative subset of proteins in detail.

Recently an international group of consortium intends to get the most information out of each new structure to group proteins into families that are most likely the same architectural features. Then the members of the consortium plan to target representatives of each family for examination by pain staking physical techniques.

Structural biologist work a group of proteins into categories fro the practical aim of solving structures efficiently. The fact that proteins are so amenable to classification reverberates with biological meaning. It reflects how life on the earth evolved and opens the door to a question cameral to understand in the phenomenon of life itself. Is there a set of proteins common to all organisms? What are the biochemical processes required for life?

Already with several fully sequenced gnomes available- mostly of bacteria- scientist have started to take inventories of genes conserved among these organisms, guided by the grand question of what constituted life, at least at the level of a single cell. If scientist invented a genome that crafts a cell around itself and the cell reproduced reliably, the exercises would prove that the scientist had deciphered the basic mechanisms of life. Such an experiment would also raise safety, ethical and theological issues that cannot be neglected.

Research of single cells will be research of the past. The genome project will spark similar analysis for 1000 genes and cell components at a time. Within the next half-century, wit all genes identified, and all possible cellular interactions and reactions charted, pharmacologist developing a drug or toxicologist trying to predict whether a substance is poisonous may well turn to computer models to answer their questions.

Another question asked is will the details of how genes determine mammalian development become clear? Being able to model a single cell will be impressive, but to understand fully the life-forms scientist are most familiar with, they will plainly have to consider additional levels of complexity. Scientist will have to examine how genes and their products behave in place and time that is in different parts of the body and in a body that changes over a life span. So far developmental biologists have striven to find signals that are universally important in establishing an animal’s body plan, the arrangement of its limits and origins.

Understanding the human genome will transform prevention, diagnostic and therapeutic medicine. Molecular biology has long held out the promise of transforming medicine from a matter of serendipity to a rational pursuit grounded in a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of life. Its findings have begun to infiltrate the practice of medicine; genomic will hasten the advance. Within fifty years, scientists expect comprehensive genomes-based on health care to be the norm in the U.S. Scientist will understand the molecular foundation of diseases, be able to prevent them in many cases, and design accurate, individual therapies for illness. When the genome is completely open to all, such studies will reveal the roles of genes that contribute weakly to diseases on their own, but also interact with other genes and environmental influences such as diet infection and prenatal exposure to health.

Within twenty year, novel drugs will be available that derive from a detailed molecular understanding of common illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The drugs will target molecules logically and therefore be potent without significant side effects.

The human species is more homogeneous than many others; as a group, humans display fewer variations than chimps do. Among humans, the same genetic variations tend to be found across all population groups, and only a small fraction of the total variation can be related to differences between groups. This has led to the conclusion that not so long ago the human species was composed of a small group, perhaps 10,000 individuals over the earth only recently. The modern humans originated in Africa and dispersed gradually into the rest of the world, race and ethnicity will prove to be largely social and cultural ideas; sharp scientifically based boundaries between groups will be found to be nonexistent.

The tension between scientific advances and the desire to return to a simple and more “natural” lifestyle will probably intensify as genomic seeps in to mere and more of daily lives. The challenge will be to maintain a healthy balance and to shoulder collectively the responsibility for ensuring that the advances arising from genomics are not put to ill use.