# Who's the "human" in the human genome project **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-human-in-the-human-genome-project/41745 "2000-11-18T16:52:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teabag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@teabag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teabag)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-human-in-the-human-genome-project/41745/1 "2000-11-18T16:52:11Z")
I was looking at a web site on the human genome project and a few questions came to mind. 1. Does the genome being sequenced belong to one particular person, or group of people (i.e. a complete set of DNA from one person’s cells)? 2. If so how were he/she/they chosen? 3. How do the various reserch teams all have enough material to work with? Do they just make copies of the DNA and ship it around the world in a test tube? Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-human-in-the-human-genome-project/41745/2 "2000-11-18T17:40:27Z")
Multiple people were used. I don’t remember the number, but it was fairly small. I did not (yet) find that information, but there is a LOT of info on the [Human Genome Project Web site](http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2000, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-human-in-the-human-genome-project/41745/3 "2000-11-18T17:54:55Z")
From the previous site [Facts About Genome Sequencing](http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/faq/seqfacts.html) reached through the [FAQS](http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/faq/faqs1.html) from the site in my prior post. [quote] **Whose genome is being sequenced in the public (HGP) and private projects?** The human reference sequence will not represent an exact match for any one person’s genome. In the Human Genome Project (HGP), researchers collected blood (female) or sperm (male) samples from a large number of donors. Only a few samples were processed as DNA resources, and the source names are protected so neither donors not scientists know whose DNA is being sequenced. The human genome sequence generated by the private genomics company Celera was based on DNA samples collected from five donors who identified themselves as Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, and African-American. The knowledge obtained from both efforts will be applicable to everyone because all humans share the same basic set of genes and genomic regulatory regions that control the development and maintenance of their biological structures and processes. In addition to generating a reference sequence, another important goal of the HGP is to identify many of the small regions of DNA that vary between individuals. Scientists believe these variations may underlie disease susceptibility and drug responsiveness, particularly the most common variations that are called SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms). The DNA resources used for these studies came from anonymous donors of European, African, American (north, central, south), and Asian ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2000, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-human-in-the-human-genome-project/41745/4 "2000-11-18T18:24:16Z")
By the way, **teabag** , your topic line got a bit mangled. I imagine that you used quotation marks in it, and previewed? That’ll cause the board software to eat whatever was in the quotes. If you let me know what you wanted it to be, I can fix it for you. ---
**Author:** ![teabag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@teabag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teabag)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2000, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-human-in-the-human-genome-project/41745/5 "2000-11-18T21:54:26Z")
The thread title should have read “who’s the “human” in the human genome project” Thanks ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-human-in-the-human-genome-project/41745/6 "2000-11-19T06:16:42Z")
Actually, I met a guy who use to work a Celera; he was prevented to say what DNA was used by nondisclosure employment agreements, but the jist was Venter used his own, in addition to other samples from different populations.