On April 14, 2003, UC Santa Cruz, as leaders of the Human Genome Project announced the project’s successful completion at a press conference and made the completed reference sequence of the human genome chromosomes publicly available on their Genome Browser to be used daily by thousands of biomedical researchers throughout the world to help usher in the Genomic Age.
The “finished” reference sequence covers about 99 percent of the gene-containing regions in the genome, and has been sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99 percent. “The missing portions can’t be reliably sequenced using current technology”, and are regions for continued exploration.
The genome sequencing endeavour was conceived in June 1985 at UCSC and was launched in 1990, through funding from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Energy (DOE) and concluded April 2003. [7, 8, 14] “The DOE had become interested in studying the human genome as a way of aiding the detection of mutations that nuclear radiation might cause.” [15]
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was a collaborative effort of the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium who set out in a research program with a goal to completely map all the genes in the human genome by sequencing the 3 billion DNA “letters” and identify all protein coding genes.
“DNA is the genetic code that we all carry in our cells. The code is made up of the four chemical letters A, T, C and G. These letters are called bases and form the genetic code in all living things from plant to animal, bacteria to human. However, variation in the order of the bases is crucial to the differences both between and within species” [9]
The “Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome” was released in 2001, which estimated there to be “about 30,000–40,000 protein-coding genes in the human genome—only about twice as many as in worm or fly.”
In February 2001 a “draft sequence of the human genome” was released, where they stated “there appears to be about 30,000–40,000 protein-coding genes in the human genome—only about twice as many as in worm or fly”, far fewer than the ~100,000 previously estimated. By 2004 that number reduced to 20,000-25,000, around the same as a round worm, though this may be as low as 19,000 genes. [11, 12, 13]
Of the human genes only 3% code for proteins and 97% has been termed “junk DNA” by scientist’s over the years. In 2002 it was determined that 99% of mouse genes have “direct counter parts to humans.” [3, 4, 5]
The field of Systems Biology came out of the Genome Project, realising that complexity of a species does not come from the number of it’s parts (genes), it’s more complex, with interacting sub-systems and feedback loops. A normal functioning human body expresses (up-regulates) genes when required, triggered by many factors; thus emerged the field of study is known as epigenetics. [2, 6, 10]
Out of the Genome Project, scientists then “went to work to find the specific genes that cause certain illnesses and traits, so that gene-based therapies could be created.” [1]
The model of the immune system that vaccination is based upon, is out of date. The new model of the immune system is more complex than the 1950’s Innate-Adaptive model. It’s show that pathogens turn-on epigenetic of which there are natural feedback systems in our bodies that modulate immune responses. The protection granted to us by our immune system is more that the production of antibodies, that vaccine focus on measuring.