Outlook

Abstract

The human genome contains 3 x 10⁹ base pairs. These base pairs build the information for approxiamtely 100 000–140 000 genes. In 1992 the latest genomic revolution started with the initiation of the Human Genom Project (HGP) (Collins et al., 1998). In the next decades the HGP will completely analyze (sequence, structure, function) the entire human genome. So far, more than 60% of the genetic information are available as Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs). ESTs represent fragments of sequenced cDNAs derived from various tissues. Over time more and more of these ESTs will be identified and will present partly overlapping sequence information. Earlier in the year 2000 the GenBank, the collection of available sequence information, contained about 2.4 x 10⁹ bases of the human genome sequences and just before summer 2000 the completion of the sequencing of the entire human genome was announced. The rapid progression of the HGP was only possible since modern techniques of molecular biology and molecular genetics have been developed in parallel. These two forces together, HGP and molecular biology , will elucidate all human genes (Genomics).