What is the Genome Project?
A look at a very complex code of information . . . inside your body.
By Sixth graders of Iowa City Community Schools:
Kaitlin, Lara, and Ben
from Hoover and Mann Elementary Schools
The Human Genome Project is an international effort to map out all the codes of information in our DNA. It is an enormous project because there are 3 billion pairs of chemical bases in human DNA. We therefore consider the Genome Project an "umbrella" because it covers a very large field of research. Fortunately, it will not take as long as one might think to identify each of the 3 billion pairs of chemical bases that make up the genetic alphabet. Scientists working on the project expect to know all the letters for the pairs of chemical bases around the year 2005. There are also genome projects to map the genes of other creatures, especially bacteria and viruses that cause human diseases.
In the United States, support for this research comes from The National Institutes of Health (NIH),Department of Energy (DOE), and many pharmaceutical (people who make medications) companies.
There is also important work on understanding the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) which come up as we learn more details.
Our Pages:
Other Great Web Sites about the Genome Project:
ht tp://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/genetics.html
http://www.ho rizonpress.com/gateway/genetics.html
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