the organism’s protein composition (called the “proteome”) and function is sometimes called “proteomics.” Targeted areas of the HGP currently include genetic and physical mapping of the human genome, DNA sequencing, analysis of the genomes of numerous important nonhuman organisms, informatics to handle the tremendous increase in the rate of information generated, resource and technology development, and the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetic research for individuals and for society (F.S. Collins et al. 1998).
The HGP is supported by NIH and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at 22 specialized genome research centers in the United States and in many university, national, and private-sector laboratories. At NIH, the name was changed to the National Center for Human Genome Research in 1993 and, since late 1996, has become the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). At least 14 other countries also have programs for analyzing the genomes of various organisms—ranging from microbes and economically important plants and animals to humans.
The explosion of genomics information has occurred sooner than the most daring scientists would have predicted. Following the first complete genome sequence, that of Haemophilus influenzae in 1995, seven more genomes were completed in the next 18 months, namely, four more eubacterial genomes, two archaebacterial genomes, and one unicellular eukaryote genome—that of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In December 1998, the genome of the first multicellular eukaryote, Caenorhabditis elegans, was completed (100 kilobases of DNA sequence and 19,000 genes identified at least as ORFs). As of the end of 1999, more than 30,000 human genes had been partially identified, located, and sequenced. Human chromosome 22 has been sequenced and is projected to contain at least 679 genes (Dunham et al. 1999). In the mouse, at least 14,000 genes have been described. The fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) sequence was completed in 1999 (Adams et al. 2000). In mid-2000, an approximate (“working draft”) human sequence was completed. By 2003, numerous nonhuman genomes will be sequenced as well, including the mouse Mus musculus, the zebrafish Danio rerio, the silkworm Bombyx mori, the rat, dog, cat, chicken, rice, corn, wheat, barley, cotton, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and probably also the cow, sheep, pig, and horse. The sequencing of the mouse genome is running well ahead of schedule.
New technologies, resources, and applications have become increasingly available to researchers of many diverse scientific fields, including cancer research, drug discovery, medical genetics, and environmental genetics, and their availability should also accelerate numerous major advances in developmental toxicology in the next decade, as discussed later in this chapter.
From the outset, it was expected that the completion of sequencing of the human genome would mark but a first step in the HGP. The information about