Preview

The Diary of the Human Genome

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2405 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Diary of the Human Genome
The Diary of the Human Genome and Its Breakthrough

What is our human genome? Our human genome is what makes us who we are. Many people might find its role in our human body as a miniscule one, but it is rather one of a great role consisting of all the genetic information in a single human being. What makes the human genome unique and amazing is its function and structure. The human genome also has its complications, these are genetic mutations creating genetic disorders that affect millions. With this said, technology makes it possible to overcome these challenges through tests and searches the genome and its possibilities further, which could possibly lead to a future of DNA profiling. What makes it such a fascinating study today to evolve into the Human Genome Project and ENCODE Project, is that it enables many to study its existence and behavior to determine what it will evolve into our later future. As technology advances, it enables us to study the human genome at a higher level than ever before. Breakthroughs have been made as of 2013 that enable scientists to revolutionize what many thought was never possible.
The human genome starts with our very basic DNA. The DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a double helix structure which is delicately wrapped around balls of proteins called histones forming x-shaped bundles that duplicate, called chromosomes. This DNA is packed in about forty-six chromosome bundles, and instructs cells how to work and what to do, such as responding to different things, starting from the food you eat to the germs and chemicals you come in contact with. The DNA’s ladder consists of a double helix staircase-like structure with rails of sugar and phosphate groups and stairs made up of four basic chemical building blocks. These are ring-like structures are known as nucleotide bases, specifically named adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine, which can also be abbreviated as A, G, C, and T. A always pairs with T and



Cited: Connor, Steve. "Exclusive: 'Jaw-dropping ' Breakthrough Hailed as Landmark in Fight against Hereditary Diseases as Crispr Technique Heralds Genetic Revolution." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 . Genome News Network. "GENOME VARIATIONS." What 's a Genome? Web. 08 Nov. 2013. . National Human Genome Research Institute National Human Genome Research Institute. A Guide to Your Genome. National Institutes of Health, Oct. 2007. PDF. National Human Genome Research Institute National Human Genome Research Institute. "What Is the Human Genome Project?" What Is the Human Genome Project? Web. 10 Nov. 2013. . National Institutes of Health. "Learning About Achondroplasia." Learning About Achondroplasia. 11 May 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. . National Institutes of Health National Institutes of Health. "What Are the Types of Genetic Tests?" Genetics Home Reference. National Library of Medicine, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. . UC Berkeley. A Brave New World of Genome Editing. Digital image. The Independent. 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Human genes generally comprise sequences of DNA that specifically code for a particular protein, interspersed with sequences of DNA that do not code for a particular protein. Sequences of DNA coding for a particular protein are thought to account for approximately 1% of the human genome.…

    • 4908 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Laurie Garrett, author of “Biology’s Brave New World,” biology and politics are more related than you may think. Garrett’s article, originally published in Foreign Affairs, explores the world of synthetic genomics, a branch of bioengineering in which biologists code DNA sequences to create organisms born from computer code, instead of from earth’s natural evolutionary processes. This groundbreaking research marks the beginning of a new era in which biologists can tinker with living organisms in order to achieve desired effects. Though this opens the door for creating better immunizations and bacterial colonies that can glow in the presence of poison, this also opens the door for sophisticated bioweapons, targeted bioterrorism pathogens, and artificial superbugs capable of destroying the population. Called the “dual-use research of concern,” Garrett explains that synthetic genomics research has both beneficial and devastating implications. However, she asserts that the negative implications should not justify terminating this kind of research. Instead, Garrett advocates for…

    • 1364 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doctors believe that new gene editing tools could soon give us the ability to directly manipulate that genetic blueprint. Scientists and…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The key argument in favor of the human genome project is based on its potential for treating individuals severely affected by their condition. Genetic bases for many diseases have been proven,which makes the human genome project very important for understanding how to treat, and even cure some of these diseases (Friedman & Schustack, 2005) A ideal example is Lesch-Nyhan disease, which is distinguished communication deficits and involuntary self-injurious behavior. Males who have this disorder have to be restrained frequently to prevent them from inflicting serious damage on themselves. Most of these individuals have their have teeth removed to keep from biting their lips off. If we have a new medical genetic technology that will cure this…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Opens up with talking about the Chinese taking that one single mutate gene out of the embryo and replacing it with a healthy unmutated gene. This is remarkable because with this discovery we can cure a lot of single gene diseases such as Huntington's Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, and breast cancer, these are a few examples of the single gene diseases that can be cured with this gene editing. Diseases that are not able to be cured by the replacement of these genes are the much more complex diseases that contain hundreds and thousands of genes such as schizophrenia and obesity. This is more complicated because they would need to go in and edit that genome in a massive way. The biggest concerns of scientists is making changes in the germ-line which is basically the…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mr. Pinker’s editorial was over the new technique of CRISPR-Cas9. This technique allows one, relatively cheaply and easily, to go through a genome, target certain undesirable genetic sequences, cut those sequences out, and implant a new genetic sequence of ones choosing. While this sounds amazing at first, and something that Mr. Pinker wants us to believe is as simple as that, the truth of the matter is, that it is not.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ghost In Your Genes Essay

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Ghost in Your Genes”- when hearing this I thought of something unknown, overtaking your body, or at least a part of your body. The movie, Ghost in Your Genes, presents an experiment done in the 1990s, called the Human Genome Project (Ghost in Your Genes). During this project, researchers were able to discover the chemical structure of each gene and overall they hoped to find a cure for all diseases, such as alzheimer's and autism (Ghost in Your Genes). It was also found out that humans, surprisingly have the same number of genes as fish and mice and chimpanzees make up 98.9% of the human genome (Ghost in Your Genes). This question then pops up- how come humans are so much more complex than these animals are? Does it have to do with something…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which is basically the bacterial defense system in the body. CRISPR can be programmed to target specific genetic codes and edit specific DNA in the body. This enables researchers to permanently modify genes in organisms and living cells, with hopes in the future to be able to modify mutations in human genes to treat genetic diseases (“Project Spotlight CRISPR”). In 1993, Francisco Mojica discovered CRISPR. He worked on it throughout the late 90’s and 2000’s. In 2013, CRISPR set our for genome editing. Feng Zhang, a Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, was the first to successfully adapt the gene editing in human and mouse cells (“CRISPR Timeline”). With CRISPR, scientists can create mouse models of human diseases much quicker than before, study single genes much faster, and easily change multiple genes in cells at once. Blake Wiedenheft, a biochemist at Montana State University in Bozeman stated, “I don’t think there’s any example of any field moving this fast” (Pennisi). In 2016, scientists recently got approval from the UK Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority to edit genes in embryos. In 1998, when Sharon Begley published her article, “Designer Babies”, this procedure was considered a dream. Now, it is a reality. Dr. Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute in London, also the American…

    • 1971 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is the Human Genome Project, and what if you knew what disease you were likely to encounter? Would you like to know? The Human Genome Project helped the human race understand disease and different types of cancers, thus improving the lifespan of humans. The Human Genome Project by definition is “An international scientific research project designed to study and identify all of the genes in the human genome, to determine the base-pair sequences in human DNA, and to store this information in computer databases. The Human Genome Project began in the United States in 1990 and was completed in 2003.” (Mifflin 1)…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A process which costs only hundreds of dollars now was unaffordable to the public in the near past. Genetics has opened a whole new world and set of information for people to learn about universally. This technology stemmed off the Human Genome Project in the 1990’s, but really could not be possible without the technology and resources we have today. Fredrick Sanger; a British biochemist, contributed to the discovery of this technology. He won his second Nobel prize in chemistry for his efforts in genomics. Along with his team, he whole-sequenced Bacteriophage with a method he created. This method was widely used for about 25 years until new methods were discovered. Advances such as this made it possible for actual human genome to be analyzed. They started by sequencing genomes smaller in size so they could fix errors they before they started sequencing humans. Although human genome sequencing is still in progress, it has come a long way and is much easier and cheaper than…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the mid-1900s, researchers have been studying and developing the concept of genetic modification in bacteria, crops, animals and even humans. Successes with these studies have led to numerous improvements in humanity’s way of life, such as the production of human insulin, the Human Genome Project, and GMO crops, which allow farmers to harvest disease, climate, and pest resistant produce. Since the 1980s, scientists have been researching a technology that w was more recently named CRISPR; This system allows bacteria to defend itself from viruses by altering its own genetic code. It was eventually discovered that CRISPR is programmable and, thanks to the discovery of a protein known as Cas9 in 2012, very precise. This discovery was a complete revolution in the science of genetic engineering as it is predicted to allow powerful genetic modification in all types of cells.…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nature vs. Nurture

    • 1981 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Young, Emma. "BBC NEWS | In Depth | Human Genome | Nature versus Nurture." BBC News - Home. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2000/human_genome/760724.stm>.…

    • 1981 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tissue Donations

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages

    National Human Research Institute. (2010, December 13). An overview of the human genome project: What was the human genome project? Retrieved from,…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Human Genome Project

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages

    century and will be of great value to the field of medicine. The project will…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gene Editing Essay

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This source explains how it has began to start gene editing in animals. It has been discovered that if certain genes from a jelly fish are added to a mouse, the mouse will be capable of glowing. They have also discovered that by editing different genes, they could make mice stronger, or more affectionate. This is important information because it is the beginning of gene editing. Later it talks about what will happen when and if this is tried on humans. Obviously it will have to be perfected before the gene editing would be tested on human. This source then begins to tell how In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) was the beginning to Preimplantation genetic Diagnosis (PGD). The PGD is what made it possible to see whether someone was going to have a disease…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics