Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.... Psalm 139:6
"Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic
blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle that was
nearly completed two decades ago.
An international team
described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome — the set
of instructions to build and sustain a human being — in research
published Thursday in the journal Science. The previous effort,
celebrated across the world, was incomplete because DNA sequencing
technologies of the day weren't able to read certain parts of it. Even
after updates, it was missing about 8% of the genome.
“Some of the genes that make us uniquely human were actually in this
‘dark matter of the genome’ and they were totally missed,” said Evan
Eichler, a University of Washington researcher who participated in the
current effort and the original Human Genome Project. “It took 20-plus
years, but we finally got it done.”
---The human genome is made up of about 3.1 billion DNA subunits, pairs of
chemical bases known by the letters A, C, G and T.
---Genes are strings of
these lettered pairs that contain instructions for making proteins, the
building blocks of life. Humans have about 30,000 genes, organized in 23
groups called chromosomes that are found in the nucleus of every cell.
Eichler said some scientists used to think unknown areas contained
“junk." Not him. "Some of us always believed there was gold in those
hills," he said."
LATimes