| Secrets of the Human Genome |
| Ah yes, the human genome. I remember learning about the human genome my high school sophomore year in Ms. Jones's Biology class.....::nostaligia:: good times... Have you seen the movie where Jeff Goldblum plays Watson and they race to find the human genome, or something? Strangely, I liked that movie...I recommend it to the true science geeks. Anyway, here's the story.... |
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| The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium announced last year that the human genome sequence had been completed. Considered "the most powerful tool ever developed to explore the mysteries of human developement and disease," this monumental work was achieved throught the human genome project (HGP) which took 13 years and $3 billion to accomplish. |
| What is the human genome and its importance? "The human genome is the total genetic information in the chromosomes of man," explains Dr. Celia Torres Villanueva of the University of the Phillipines' National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Quezon City. The 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nucleus of the cell, the smallest unit structure of our bodies, contain about 30,000 genes that are essential for the production of proteins for growth and other vital functions. Although the science of genetics, the study of the transmission of hereditary characters, has been around since 1865 when Gregor Mendel formulated the principles of heredity, it was not until 1953 when James Watson and Francis Crick reported on their discovery of the "genetic code" that the science of genomics (study of the genome) was born. Watson and Crick proposed the double helix model for the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) found in the nucleus of the cell. The DNA structure has two strands with pairs of molecules known as nitrogen bases between them. The four bases are Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C), and Guanine (G) which always pair as AT, TA, CG, and GC. The human genome which contains 3.1647 billion base pairs is referred to as "the book of life" by Dr. Torres Villanueva. "If the triplet codes are the words, the genes are the sentences." The deciphering of the "genetic code" has made possible many medical breakthroughs and applications in other fields. Through recombinant DNA technology, for instance, human insulin which is deficiant in people with diabetes is now produced in large quantities by genetically modified cultured bacteria, according to Dr. Quintin Kintanar and Perla Santos Ocampo of the National Academy of Science and Technology. With the more than 3,000 human disorders that are caused by single gene defects (e.g., muscle dystrophy and hemophilia), genetic testing and therapy can provide new ways of diagnosing, treating and preventing diseases caused by genetic factors, says Dr. Eva Cutiongco of the Institute of Human Genetics of the University of the Phillipines in Manila. A company in Scotland has developed transgenic pigs that are expected to produce organs that can be transplanted in humans because they they do not have the genes for rejection. The technique of "DNA Fingerprinting" developed by Sir Alec Jeffrys in 1984 is now applied in forensic laboratories worldwide for the identification of persons through their DNA samples. Use of the method for settling paternity cases in courts is now standard practice. While it is widely accepted that the completion of the human genome will revolutionize genetics and the biological sciences, there is still much more to be done in terms of identifying its function and understanding how and why genes can cause and/or prevent disease, according to scientists. |
| -Manila Bulletin |