Human

Genome
Project

Introduction

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was the research program

whose aim was the complete mapping and understanding of all
the genes of human beings. The project was organized and
coordinated by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S
Department of Energy. The project formally began in 1990 and
was completed in 2003, 2 years ahead of its real schedule.

Development of new drugs

Understanding human genetic variation promises to have a great
impact on our ability to understand the cause of individual
variation in response to therapeutics. HGP has allowed us to
identify some of the genes responsible for inherited disease. This
made it easier to produce medicines that affect the pathogen
cells but stop the damage to the healthy body cells. There is a
new science of pharmacogenomics which has developed to link
pharmaceutical expertise with knowledge of the human genome.
It has also been proved that HGP has allowed being useful in
terms of improving on existing medicines.
New disciplines within the field of applied genetics have
developed which include bioinformatics and pharmacogenomics.
Bioinformatics is based upon the use of computers to store,
analyze, gather and integrate the huge amount of data that is
generated as the sequence of bases in different genome is
discovered. Pharmacogenomics is the study in which it shows how
a person responses to drugs.
Human genome has discovered more than 1800 diseases so far.

Social, moral & ethical issues raised on

development of new drugs using HGP
The increasing availability and use of genetic testing in the
clinical setting raises a number of ethical, legal and social issues.
It takes a lot of time for scientist to complete the trials as
identifying the gene that response to a particular drug is not easy

to find. A lot of money is required in such projects.so is it

important for the insurance companies to have all the
information?
Moreover many possible highly specialized treatments may be
very expensive and will only be suitable for a few people. So who
will pay for the development of new therapies and drugs?

How drugs can be produced from genetically

modified organisms.
Microorganisms
Microorganisms were the first organisms that were genetically
modified in the laboratory due to their simple genetics. In 1978
Herbert Boyer who was working at a University of California
laboratory, took a version of the human insulin gene and inserted
into the bacterium to produce synthetic human insulin. The drug
industry is now using this discovery to produce different
medications which include production of clotting factors for
trathaemosphilia and also medication for diabetes. In addition
human growth hormone is produced to treat various forms of
dwarfism.

Animals
Tracy was the first animal that was genetically modified. It was
created by scientists at Scotlands Roslin Institute to produce the
human protein alpha 1-antitrypsin. It was a substance regarded in
the 1990s as a potential pharmaceutical for the treatments of
cystic fibrosis and emphysema.
Alpha 1-antitrypsin comprised 50% of the total protein in Tracy's
milk. Similar levels were found in the milk produced by her
granddaughters. A deficiency in this protein in humans can
produce lung diseases, and its artificial creation was said to be a
potential success in the diseases' treatment

Transgenic animals, like Tracey can be used as a treatment of

A1AD as the protein AAT is produced and secreted in the milk of
those animals.

Plants
The first genetically modified crop plant was produced in 1982, an
antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant.
Genetically modified plants are produced in months. Mostly
transgenic plants are said to produce faster that non transgenic
plants. Moreover they are used to produce drugs and chemicals.
These drugs can be produced cheaply and efficiently.
Foreign genes can be inserted in to the plants by using a
bacterium that infects species of plants. A desired gene for the
plants are inserted in to the plasmid of the bacteria that then
carries these genes into the plants DNA Foreign genes can be
inserted into a plant cell using a lot of methods.
A second technique that is used is gene gun which shoots
microscopic particles coated with DNA into the plant
cell.1 Generally, individual plant cells are targeted and these are
regenerated into whole GM plants using tissue culture techniques.
Genetically modified plants have been used to manufacture
proteins for healing wounds and also to treat cirrhosis, anemia,
and cystic fibrosis.

Benefits associated with the use of genetically

modified organisms.
GM animals of human genetic diseases have allowed scientists to
test novel therapies and to explore the role of candidate risk
factors and modifiers of disease outcome. GM microbes, plants,
and animals also revolutionized the production of
complex pharmaceuticals by allowing the generation of safer and
cheaper vaccines and therapeutics.

Genetically modified animals are used for different purposes. Now

a new type of genetic modification is used known as genetic
engineering. Biopharm animals that have undergone genetic
engineering which are used to produce substances like insulin, for
pharmaceutical use. Some researched animals are engineered to
use in particular projects such as cancer, so that the scientists
can have a better basic understanding of the disease for the
development of new therapies or in order to evaluate new
medical therapies. Moreover some are engineered so they can be
used as a source for cells, tissues or organs that could be used for
transplantation into humans.
Plants crop, including both food and fiber harvests, have been
used in different types of genetic modifications. A new trait is
introduced to the plant which does not occur naturally in the
species. Mostly in such cases food crops include resistance to
certain pests, diseases or environment conditions. Moreover
transgenic plants have been engineered to create different crops
and to create new colors in plants.

Risks associated with the use of genetically

modified organisms
The type of risks that could be posed by GMOs vary according to
the type of organism that has been modified. Health effects that
could result from the insertion of a novel gene into an organism
include production of new allergies, increased toxicity, decreased
nutrition and antibiotic resistance.
In addition GMOs cross pollinated and their seeds can travel.
GMO contaminations has caused economic losses for organic and
non-GMO farmers who often put up a lot of effort to keep their
crops pure.

Conclusion

In April 2003, researchers working on the Human Genome Project

announced that they completed a high-quality sequence of
essentially the entire human genome. It also helped to identify
the locations of many human genes and provided information
about their structure and organizations.