The Human Genome Project (HGP) was the international, collaborative research program whose goal was the complete mapping and understanding of all the genes of human beings. All our genes together are known as our “genome.”
The main goals of the Human Genome Project were first articulated in 1988 by a special committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and later adopted through a detailed series of five-year plans jointly written by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy.
Potential applications of genome research include :
- Molecular medicine
- Energy sources and environmental applications
- Risk assessment
- Bioarchaeology, anthropology, evolution, and human migration
- DNA forensics (identification)
- Agriculture, livestock breeding, and bioprocessing
Understanding genomics will help us understand human evolution and the common biology we share with all of life. Comparative genomics between humans and other organisms such as mice already has led to similar genes associated with diseases and traits. Further comparative studies will help determine the yet-unknown function of thousands of other genes. Comparing the DNA sequences of entire genomes of different microbes will provide new insights about relationships among the three kingdoms of life: archaebacteria, eukaryotes, and prokaryotes.