What does the human genome tell us (quick numbers)?
• The human genome contains 3164.7 million chemical nucleotide bases (A, C, T, and G). • The average gene consists of 3000 bases, but sizes vary greatly, with the largest known human gene being dystrophin at 2.4 million bases. • The total number of genes is estimated at 30,000 to 35,000 much lower than previous estimates of 80,000 to 140,000 that had been based on extrapolations from gene-rich areas as opposed to a composite of gene-rich and gene-poor areas. • Almost all (99.9%) nucleotide bases are exactly the same in all people. • The functions are unknown for over 50% of discovered genes. (Source : The Human Genome Project Information website @ http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/project/info.
