Introduction to the Human Genome Project

The human genome project, HGP) was first proposed by American scientists in 1985. Officially launched in 199, scientists from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and China participated in this $3 billion human genome project. This project aims to accurately sequence the human genome composed of more than 3 billion base pairs, find all human genes and find out their positions on chromosomes. Deciphering all human genetic information. Together with Manhattan Atomic Bomb Project and Apollo Project, it is called the three major scientific projects.

In 1986, Renato Dulbecco, a Nobel Prize winner, published a short article entitled "The Turning Point of Cancer Research: Sequencing the Human Genome" (Science, 231: 155-156). The article pointed out: If we want to know more about cancer, we must pay attention to the cell genome from now on ....... If we want to understand human tumors, we should start with humans ..... The research of human tumors will be greatly promoted by the detailed knowledge of DNA. "

What is Genome? Genome is the whole composition of all genes in a species. Human genome has two meanings: genetic information and genetic material. To reveal the mystery of life, it is necessary to study the existence, structure and function of genes and the relationship between genes from the whole level.

Why choose human genome for research? Because human beings are the most advanced creatures in the course of "evolution", the study of them is helpful to know themselves, master the laws of birth, aging, death, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and understand the origin of life. < P > In the human genome project, it also includes the study of five kinds of biological genomes: Escherichia coli, yeast, nematodes, fruit flies and mice. They are called the five "model organisms" of human beings.

The purpose of HGP is to decode life, understand the origin of life, understand the law of growth and development of life, understand the causes of differences between species and individuals, understand the mechanism of diseases and life phenomena such as longevity and aging. To provide scientific basis for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

The birth and start-up of HGP

The research on the human genome had a certain embryonic form in the 197s and a certain scale in many countries in the 198s.

In Alta, Utah, in 1984, White R and Mendelsonhn M hosted a small professional meeting entrusted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to discuss the significance and prospect of determining the DNA sequence of the whole human genome (Cook Deegan RM, 1989

In May 1985, at a meeting hosted by Sinsheimer RL of US DOE in Santa Cruz, California, a motion to determine the complete sequence of human genome was put forward, which formed the draft of "Human Genome Project" of US Department of Energy.

In March 1986, the feasibility of this project was discussed in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Then DOE announced the implementation of this plan.

In 1986, geneticist McKusick V proposed that the science of studying heredity from the whole genome level was called "genomics"

In early 1987, the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health allocated about 5.5 million US dollars (166 million US dollars for the whole year) for HGP.

In 1988, The National Human Genome Research Center was established in the United States, with Watson J as the first director.

On October 1, 199, with the approval of the US Congress, HGP was officially launched in the United States. The overall plan was to invest at least $3 billion in the analysis of the whole human genome within 15 years.

In 1987, the National Research Council of Italy * * * and China began HGP research, which was characterized by diverse technologies (YAC, hybrid cells). CDNA, etc.), regional concentration (basically limited to the Xq24-qter region)

In February 1989, HGP was started in Britain, with the following characteristics: the Imperial Cancer Research Foundation and the National Medical Research Council (ICRP-MRC) were both responsible for national coordination and fund regulation, and Sanger Center near Cambridge focused on accumulating experience in the genome of nematodes and improving large-scale DNA sequencing technology; At the same time, the "British Human Genome Resource Center" was established for YAC library screening and cloning, specific cell lines, DNA probes, genomic DNA, cDNA libraries, comparative biological genomic DNA sequences, information analysis, etc. It can be described as "resource concentration and national coordination".

In June 199, HGP was launched in France and China. The Ministry of Scientific Research entrusted the National Academy of Medical Sciences to formulate HGP. The main feature is to pay attention to the whole genome, cDNA and automation. The Center for Human Polymorphism Research (CEPH) has been established, which has exerted great influence on the construction of YAC contigs of the whole genome, microsatellite markers (genetic maps) and the world-famous CEPH families (8 families with three generations and many individuals) used for genome research. < P > In 1995, HGP was started in Germany * * * and China, with a rapid momentum. A resource center and a gene scanning and positioning center have been set up successively, and the large-scale sequencing of chromosome 21 has been started.

In June 199, the European Human Genome Research Project was adopted, and 23 laboratories were mainly funded for the establishment and operation of the resource center. There are also the Kingdom of Denmark, the Russian Federation, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia.

In 1994. China's HGP was initiated by Wu Min, Qiang Boqin, Chen Zhu and Yang Huanming. At first, with the support of the National Natural Science Foundation and the 863 High-tech Program, it successively launched "Research on the Gene Structure of Several Sites in the Chinese Genome" and "Research on the Location, Cloning, Structure and Function of Genes Related to Major Diseases". In 1998, under the leadership and matchmaking of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Southern Gene Center was established in Shanghai. In 1999, the Northern Human Genome Center was established in Beijing. In 1998, the Institute of Genetics of Chinese Academy of Sciences was established. In July 1999, it was registered in the international human genome, and the sequencing task of a 3Mb region on the short arm of human chromosome 3 was completed. This region accounts for about 1% of the whole human genome. < P > The significance of HGP to human beings

1. The contribution of HGP to the research of human disease genes < P > Genes related to human diseases are the vital information of the structural and functional integrity of the human genome. For monogenic diseases, the new ideas of "location cloning" and "positional candidate cloning" are adopted. It has led to the discovery of a large number of single-gene genetic diseases such as Huntington's disease, hereditary colon cancer and breast cancer, which laid the foundation for gene diagnosis and gene therapy of these diseases. Polygenic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, tumors, diabetes, neuropsychiatric diseases (senile dementia, schizophrenia) and autoimmune diseases are the focus of disease gene research at present. Health-related research is an important part of HGP. In 1997, they successively put forward: "Tumor Genome Anatomy Plan" and "Environmental Genomics Plan".

2. Contribution of HGP to medicine < P > Gene diagnosis, gene therapy and treatment based on genome knowledge, disease prevention based on genome information, identification of susceptible genes, lifestyle of risk population and intervention of environmental factors.

3. Contribution of HGP to biotechnology

(1) Genetic engineering drugs: secreted proteins (polypeptide hormones, growth factors, chemokines, Coagulation and anticoagulant factors, etc.) and their receptors.

(2) Diagnostic and research reagent industry: gene and antibody kits, biochips for diagnosis and research, disease and drug screening models.

(3) Promotion of cell, embryo and tissue engineering: embryonic and adult stem cells, cloning technology, organ reconstruction.

4, Contribution of HGP to pharmaceutical industry

Screening drug targets: combining combinatorial chemistry and natural compound separation technology, establishing Qualcomm receptor and enzyme binding test; Knowledge-based drug design: advanced structural analysis, prediction and simulation of gene and protein products-drug action pocket.

Individualized drug therapy: pharmacogenomics.

5. Important impact of HGP on social economy

. Social and economic benefits of discovering new functional genes; Genetically modified food; Genetically modified drugs (such as diet pills and height-increasing drugs)

6. The influence of HGP on the study of biological evolution < P > The evolutionary history of organisms is written in the "heavenly book" of each genome; Paramecium is a relative of human beings-1.3 billion years; Man evolved from a kind of monkey 3-4 million years ago. Humans "walked out of Africa" for the first time-2 million years of ancient apes; The human "Eve" came from Africa, 2, years ago-the second "out of Africa"?

7. The negative effects brought by HGP

Jurassic Park is not just a science fiction story; Racial selective genocidal biological weapons; Gene patent war; Predatory war of genetic resources; Genes and personal privacy.