Gene therapy has also been revolutionised hopefully defective or missing genes can be replaced or added to cure genetic diseases.
Understanding the human genome will help assess risks posed by exposure to toxic chemicals. Some people are less susceptible to these chemicals research into this will help scientists understand why this is the case. This can be vital to understand effects of exposure to radiation.
Genome research will also help us to understand human evolution and the things we have in common with all life. By comparing human and animal genomes we can find out the functions of some genes.
DNA forensics (identification) will be greatly improved as large sequences of DNA are able to be identified permitting the identification of individuals. This will have major benefits for the police as they will be able to identify suspects who have left DNA at crime scenes.
Understanding plant and animal genomes has lead to major agricultural advances. It allows the creation of plants and animals more resilient to the environment and disease. This will benefit farmers and the farming economy.
However one of the problems that may arise from being able to identifying genes associated with a disease is genetic testing for life insurance and even employment. In the future insurance companies or employers may require applicants to be tested for genes that mean there more susceptible to a disease. This will mean hundreds of people will be unable to get jobs or even insurance. In extreme cases it could lead to a new type of racism and “superior race”. Implications of the HGP will extend to family planning as people are able to have “designer babies” people can choose the genes their child will have such as eye colour build hair colour etc. this raises ethical concerns as it is messing with nature.
To achieve the goal of mapping and sequencing the human genome, scientists have undertaken mapping and sequencing several model organisms. The HGP has elucidated the genomes of the common bacterium, Escherichia coli (4,405 genes on a single chromosome consisting of 4.6 million basepairs); the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (6,600 genes, 16 chromosomes, 12 million basepairs); the nematode worm, (18,000 genes, 6 chromosomes, 97 million basepairs); and the fruit fly, (13,600 genes, 4 chromosomes, 180 million basepairs). Work is also progressing on the laboratory mouse, whose genome is nearly as complex as the human genome; current reports suggest the sequencing phase of its genome is one-third finished. These endeavours will assist in assembling more complex genomes, identifying functional genes, and initiating the exploration of gene function and regulation. Concurrently, the National Science Foundation is funding work on the plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Other groups are working on the genomes of numerous microbes, animals such as cows and dogs, and plants such as corn and rice.
Originally the human genome project was started by the national institute of health who had the intention of addressing genetic conditions and the department of energy who were interested in monitoring radiation safety and managing large projects. As the project was a government funded program it was assumed the results would be openly available however more recently Private investors have begun to show interest in the project. This may change how the information is made available weather t will be made available strait away or will it be held while the producers use it.
The human genome project has ethical concerns for the religious community. Some implications the HGP entails cause ethical concern. It is an attempt to ‘play god’ and interfere with nature.
