Growth of Genome Sequencing in India

Genome Sequencing 

Genome sequencing is a process of figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome—the order of Adenine, Cytosine, guanine, and Thymine that forms in an organism's DNA.

Human Genome

• Human Genome comprises 23 chromosome pairs with a total sum of about 3 billion DNA base pairs.
• Twenty-four distinct human chromosomes: 22 autosomal chromosomes, plus the sex-determining X and Y chromosomes, are present in humans.
• The chromosomes are numbered from 1-22 in order of decreasing size.
• Somatic cells usually have one copy of chromosomes 1-22, one from each parent, plus an X chromosome from the mother and either an X or Y chromosome from the father, which makes a total of 46.
• There are an estimated 20,000-25,000 human protein-coding genes.
• The estimate of the number of human genes has been recurrently revised for a long,  from initial predictions of 100,000 or more as the quality of genome sequence and gene finding methods have improved, and they could continue to drop further with better techniques.

Importance of Genome Sequencing

• Sequencing the genome is a vital step toward understanding it.
• The genome sequence will represent a useful shortcut, which will help scientists to find the genes quickly and more conveniently. In addition, a genome sequence does hold some clues about where genes are, though scientists are still learning how to interpret these clues.
• Scientists also hope that studying the entire genome sequence will help them understand how the genome as a whole work—how all genes work together for the survival, maintenance, growth, and development of an organism.
• Finally, genes account for less than 25 percent of the DNA in the genome. Thus, the entire genome sequence will help scientists study the parts of the genome that are outside the genes. This includes the regulatory regions that control how genes are turned on and off, including long stretches of "nonsense" or "junk" DNA— they are called so because their significance hasn't been established yet.

Human Genome Project

• The Human Genome Project was an effort by international researchers to determine the sequence of the human genome and identify its genes. The Project was under the coordination of the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy.
• It was a 13-years-long, publicly funded project started in 1990 to determine the DNA sequence of the entire euchromatic human genome within 15 years.
• The huge success of the Human Genome Project is visible. Completing this PProject would lead to a new era in medicine, including significant advances in the types of technology used to sequence DNA.
• Today, personalized medicines aim to use information about a person's genes, including their nucleotide sequence, to make drugs safer and more effective.
• For example, the evolution of Her2/neu and Response to Breast Cancer Treatment and CYP450 and Response to Antidepressants are direct results of the Human Genome Project.

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