Human Genome Project

Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international collaborative scientific research project whose goal was determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying and mapping and understanding all of the genes of the human genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint.

All our genes together are known as our "genome."

The main goals of the Human Genome Project were to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billion DNA base pairs that make up the human genome and to find all of the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 human genes.

This ultimate product of the HGP has given the world a resource of detailed information about the structure, organization and function of the complete set of human genes. This information can be thought of as the basic set of inheritable "instructions" for the development and function of a human being.

The work of the Human Genome Project has allowed researchers to begin to understand the blueprint for building a person. As researchers learn more about the functions of genes and proteins, this knowledge will have a major impact in the fields of medicine, biotechnology, and the life sciences.

The total length of the human genome is over 3 billion base pairs. The genome is organized into 22 paired chromosomes, termed autosomes, plus the 23rd pair of sex chromosomes (XX) in the female, and (XY) in the male. These are all large linear DNA molecules contained within the cell nucleus.