The Human Genome Project and its Findings

In 1984, the US Government planned an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which constitutes the human DNA, and of identifying and mapping all of the genes of the human genome to understand how they function. This became the world's largest collaborative biological project and was popularly known as the Human Genome Project.

The research started in 1990 and was declared complete in 2003. It is considered as a Mega Project as the human genome has 3.3 billion base pairs. Inspite of being such an ambitious project aimed at learning all the minuscule details of our DNA, the project ended with amazing findings:

This sequence closed the gaps from a working draft of the genome, which was published in 2001.
It also identified the locations of many human genes and provided information about their structure and organization.
The Project made the sequence of the human genome and tools to analyze the data freely available via the Internet.
In addition to the human genome, the Human Genome Project sequenced the genomes of several other organisms, including brewers’ yeast, the roundworm, and the fruit fly.
In 2002, researchers announced that they had also completed a working draft of the mouse genome.
By studying the similarities and differences between human genes and those of other organisms, researchers can discover the functions of particular genes and identify which genes are critical for life.

Here is an amazing video which best describes our understanding of the Human Genome and DNA mechanisms.

Watch Here: