Chapter 21, Problem 21.1CR

How did the Human Genome Project result in more rapid, less expensive DNA-sequencing technology?

Summary Introduction

To determine: How the “Human Genome Project” resulted in the development of a more rapid and less expensive DNA-sequencing technology.

Introduction: Human Genome Project was a collaborative international effort to determine the sequence of all the bases that make up human beings and also to locate the position of each gene on the chromosomes.

Explanation of Solution

The main goal of the Human Genome Project was to sequence the entire nucleotide sequence of each chromosome. Determining the sequence of 3 billion base pairs was a challenging task. The process of determining the sequence of nucleotide bases in a piece of DNA is called DNA sequencing. The sequencing technology that could sequence them at a faster rate was required. This led to the development of less expensive and faster DNA-sequencing technology.

Conclusion

The need to sequence the entire genome economically and at a faster rate led to the development of high throughput sequencing, a sequencing method that generates a large amount of data in a very short period of time.