Begun formally in 1990, the US Human Genome Project is a 13-year effort coordinated by the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. Its goal is to identify all of the 80,000 genes in human DNA, as well as to develop tools to analyze the three billion pairs of chemical bases of which DNA is made. A genome is a map of all the DNA in an organism.
Genetic analysis tells what each gene does and tells the body to do.
Decoding the genome will enable doctors to screen people for serious diseases, including cancer and heart disease, and diagnose and treat these and other conditions humans suffer . The Human Genome Project will also help researchers to understand why these diseases, and other conditions as diverse as multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia and hypertension affect individuals and families in different ways. Once the gene is decoded, medicine can be created to change the behavior of a gene so that it behaves as desired. People will know what their greatest risk conditions are, and they'll be able to design their lifestyle and medical surveillance accordingly. There are important ethical and moral issues that are related to this project.