Final answer:
Bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) allowed for larger pieces of human DNA to be cloned into bacteria, which was crucial for the Human Genome Project and facilitated the shotgun sequencing strategy. BACs helped generate a genomic library necessary for sequencing and understanding gene functions within large genomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The development of bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) facilitated the sequencing of the human genome by allowing larger pieces of human DNA to be cloned into bacteria. This advancement was significant because it enabled researchers to handle and clone long sequences of human DNA in a stable and manageable way. BACs are derived from naturally occurring fertility plasmids and can accommodate large DNA fragments of up to 300,000 base pairs, making them ideal for genome sequencing projects. They became an important tool in the Human Genome Project for producing accurate sequences of the genome and were instrumental in supporting the strategy of shotgun sequencing, as they provided a means to store, organize, and manipulate large fragments of DNA during the sequencing process.
By using BACs, researchers were able to generate a genomic library - a collection of bacterial clones where each bacterium contains a fragment of the human genome. This library was critical for sequencing large genomes and determining the function of genes within these sequences. As a result, BACs played a crucial role in the rapid advancement of genetic engineering, genomic research, and our understanding of the human genome.