06/18/2024
8 facts about the human genome:
1) There are between 30,000 and 40,000 genes in the human genome.
2) A human being can be made from a gene count only twice as great as that of a fly or worm.
3) We are not fruitflies or worms because some our genes work differently – we have more “control genes.”
4) Hundreds of genes appear to have come from bacteria – one of which has been associated with depression.
5) Most mutations occur in males.
It’s about a two-fold difference. One suggested reason is the larger number of cell divisions in the male germ line (s***m).
6) More than one million SNPs have been identified.
Looking at the genetic differences between people – one variation every 500 to 1,000 bases (letters) – will usher in a new era of personalised medicine. Currently more than 1.4 million of these variations, known as SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) have been found. Overall, humans are 99.8% genetically similar.
7) The purpose of the 97% of “junk” DNA is being discovered.
We have always suspected that we couldn’t simply divide the genome into 3% of good stuff (genes) and 97% of junk. Here we are beginning to see some of the functions of the ‘junk’. Exactly as one would expect the junk has a function – rather more diffuse than the hard information carried by the genes, but nevertheless functional in some way. It may help to move genes around.
8) Just 483 existing “targets” in the body account for all the pharmaceutical drugs on the market!
