Answer: The tools created through HGP provide information to characterize the complete genomes of a variety of other organisms used in biological research. Identifying the sequence or function of a gene in a model organism, has the potential to explain a homologous gene in humans or in one of the other model organisms.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Human Genome Project (HGP) is an international scientific project that aims to decipher all the information or recipes that we have in each of our chromosomes and interpret their meaning, regulation and functioning in normal and pathological conditions, in order to subsequently use all this knowledge for the benefit of humanity, to be able to repair them in case they are damaged or out of order in the course of our lives.
All of our genes together are known as our "genome". The hereditary material of all multicellular organisms is the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) double helix, which contains all our genes. The DNA, in turn, is made up of four chemical bases. All genes are made up of sections of these four bases, arranged in different ways and at different lengths.
HGP researchers have decoded the human genome in three main ways because they have:
- Determined the order, or "sequence," of all the bases in the DNA of our genome
- Produced maps showing the locations of genes for the major sections of all our chromosomes
- Produced ligation maps, through which inherited characteristics (such as those for genetic diseases) can be followed over several generations.
This final HGP product has given the world a resource of detailed information on the structure, organization, and function of the entire set of human genes. This information can be considered as the basic set of inherited "instructions" for the development and function of a human being. The tools created through HGP also continue to provide information to characterize the complete genomes of a variety of other organisms used extensively in biological research, such as mice, fruit flies, and flatworms. These works support each other because most organisms have many similar genes, or "homologues," with similar functions. Therefore, identifying the sequence or function of a gene in a model organism, has the potential to explain a homologous gene in humans or in one of the other model organisms.