Published on April 14, 2021
This is an update of my post published on April 14, 2010:
On this date in 2003, a press conference was held to announce the completion of the Human Genome Project, two years earlier than planned.
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| If you wrote out your genome, it would fill hundreds of thick, densely printed books! |
The goal of the project was to figure out the order of chemical base pairs that make up DNA and to identify and map all 19,000 to 22,000 human genes. Obviously, since nobody has exactly the same genome (other than identical twins), the project of mapping the genome involves sequencing variations of each gene.
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| Identical twins are (nearly) identical because they share the same genome. |
This project and other parallel projects, as well as work on sequencing the genome of other creatures and comparison of various genomes, has furthered and will continue to be applied to medicine, energy and environmental projects, forensics (such as identifying the victim of a crime), agriculture, ancestry and human evolution, migration, and other assorted topics.
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DNA studies tell us a lot about human migration in general (above) and ancestry for each of us (below) - although these studies are relatively recent, and findings are approximations. The more we learn, the more detailed and certain these approximations are! Note in the various Ancestry-dot-Com reports below, the percentages of ancestry from various locations have increased or decreased, or have been "refined,"as more and more people have been analyzed. |
Learn more about Genetics
Here is a wonderful online mini-course on genetics. Each concept has an illustrated explanation, animation, “gallery” of photos or diagrams, some audio-visual clips, biographies of important scientists, a problem or two for kids to answer, and links to other websites. Excellent!
Zoom into your genome is a simple video with images of cells, chromosomes, and DNA. Another educational video about DNA can be found at Clarendon Learning.
Explore the Baby Genetics Calculator and learn more about genes and inheritance. I found the portion about eye color very interesting (scroll down to "Baby Eye Color Calculator") - especially because I happen to have hazel eyes, and that's a wildcard of sorts!
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| Hazel eyes are brown and gray and green and maybe even a little bit blue. |
Here are some more lessons for groups or classes.
This simple experiment uses ordinary household items to extract DNA from strawberries. You can actually see and feel DNA!
There are more DNA activities in this December, 2009, post.
Also on this date:
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