Human Genome essays

Human Genome essays Would the money spent on the human genome project be better spent on feeding the population of the world? There are many problems that are currently facing our world, whether it is the high level of disease, or the problem of famine in many countries. This brings us to an important question. Is it more important to spend huge amounts of money on something that will benefit all of humankind in the future, in this case the Human genome Project, or to spend the money of feeding all the members of the human race? There are many advantages, disadvantages and issues that need to be addressed when attempting to answer this question. Firstly, an introduction of the Human Genome Project. The Human Genome Project is an international scientific organisation thats aim is to gain a basic understanding of the entire genetic blueprint of a human being . The genetic information is found in each cell of the body and encoded in the DNA. This project intends to identify all the genes in the nucleus of a human cell, to establish by a process known as mapping where those genes are located on the chromosomes and to determine by a process known as sequencing, the order of the chemical subunits in the DNA which encode the genetic information. A first working draft has been achieved but plenty of work still needs to be done to identify the thousands of genes and their functions. As the above information would suggest, this process will not happen cheaply. It is rumoured to have a cost of three billion dollars, which would be more then enough to feed the world and prevent the famine that is currently occurring. The following table shows the amount of money that has been spent on the Human Genome Project. It can easily be seen that this amount is very considerable. ...