Hgp History and Findings

The Human Genome Project began with the culmination of several years of work supported by the United States Department of Energy . This 1987 report stated boldly, "The ultimate goal of this initiative is to understand the human genome" and "knowledge of the human is as necessary to the continuing progress of medicine and other health sciences as knowledge of human anatomy has been for the present state of medicine." Candidate technologies were already being considered for the proposed undertaking at least as early as 1985.

The $3-billion project was formally founded in 1990 by the United States Department of Energy and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and was expected to take 15 years. In addition to the United States, the international consortium primarily comprised geneticists in the United Kingdom, and also in France, Germany, Japan, China, and India.

Due to widespread international cooperation and advances in the field of genomics (especially in sequence analysis), as well as major advances in computing technology, a 'rough draft' of the genome was finished in 2000. Ongoing sequencing led to the announcement of the essentially complete genome in April 2003, 2 years earlier than planned. In May 2006, another milestone was passed on the way to completion of the project, when the sequence of the last chromosome was published in the journal Nature.

Key findings of the draft (2001) and complete (2004) genome sequences include: 

1. There are approximately 23,000 genes in human beings, the same range as in mice and roundworms. Understanding how these genes express themselves will provide clues to how diseases are caused.

2. Between 1.1% to 90% of the genome sequence codes for proteins.

3. The human genome has significantly more segmental duplications than other mammalian genomes. These sections may underlie the creation of new primate-specific genes.

Tasks:

1. Answer the questions:

1. What caused the initiative to study the human genome?

2. What establishments and countries participated in the HGP?

3. When was the project completed?

4. What are the key findings of the HGP?

2.Fill in the words from the list, then make sentences using the completed phrases.

Mammalian present proposed human key major rough

1. … advances; 2. … findings; 3. … state; 4. … draft; 5. … beings; 6. … undertaking; 7. … genomes.

3. Fill in the prepositions, then make sentences using the completed phrases.

for by with to to in

1. to lead … sth.; 2. to be supported … smb.; 3. to begin … sth.; 4. advances … the field of; 5. to be necessary … sth/smb; 6. on the way … sth.

4. Read the text again and take notes under these headings. Then, look at your notes and talk about HGP History and Findings.

• How HGP Started

• HGP Participants

• Stages

• Findings

Text 3

Lead-in

1. Match the words and their definitions:

1. Management; b. predisposition; c. advance; d. etiology; e. mammal

1. Going forward, progress;

2. Warm-blooded vertebrate of the class secreting milk to feed its young;

3. Study of the causes of disease;

4. Treatment;

5. Bent or inclination to something;

2. Answer the questions:

1) What do you think are the advantages of HGP?

2) Can you think of any disadvantages?

3. Read the text and say what the words in bold mean