Major Milestone Reached in Genome Project

The human genetic map is one step closer to reality with the announcement June 26 that the working draft of this landmark effort is complete.

Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine's Human Genome Sequencing Center had particular cause to celebrate this major achievement. The center, led by Dr. Richard Gibbs, was tapped last year by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to be among those sites to complete the final phase of the Human Genome Project. The project began in 1990 with an initial plan by the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Energy estimating a 15-year endeavor to unravel the human genetic code.

The completed map is anticipated in 2003; the next phase of the project will involve filling in the gaps in the sequence and increasing the overall sequence accuracy. Having this guide to the human genome will allow scientists a window into the human body and disease at a molecular level. This information has the potential to usher in a new era of medicine, with diseases possibly being detected, treated, and even prevented, at the genetic level in the future.

The human genome is the collective name for the 100,000 genes in each cell of the human body. The genes are located on the cell's 23 chromosome pairs - one set comes from the mother and the other set from the father to form a unique genetic makeup.

Genes are the instruction manual for a cell's function and reproduction. This manual is in a "language" known as deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, structured as a double-helix ladder. Broken down into its parts, DNA consists of four chemical bases - adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G). When these bases are strung together, they direct the building of a protein. The protein product is instrumental in helping the cell perform its function. The purpose of the Human Genome Project is to identify all of the genes and determine the order or "sequence" of the bases, thus, cracking the code to the cell's genetic instructions.

"The goal of Human Genome Sequencing is to provide a solid foundation for the next century of biomedical research," says Dr. Gibbs. "We won't stop until every uncertainty that can be resolved is resolved."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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