Gen: Types Of Human Genes

Gen: Types of human genes

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the list of human genes. There are many studies based on different types of genes, in order to discover the genetic causes of certain diseases such as cancer, complex disorders such as schizophrenia and dementia, Mendelian disorders and others. When the DNA of a sick patient is studied, you can know where the affected genes are. But despite the advance of science, in recent decades, the knowledge of all human genes is not yet complete. The main objectives of the human genome project (HGP) that lasted 13 years, from 1990 to 2003, were to establish the DNA sequence, such as the location of 100.000 human genes.

Human Genes List

The scientists of that time believed that once they know the DNA sequence, this would help to determine quickly where all the genes were. But over the years this was verified that it was not so. There are currently several human gene databases in competition, with thousands of differences between them. Although a large number of genes that encode proteins have been determined, many of other genes have not been able to identify. Seventeen years of the initial publication of the human genome passed and all human genes have not yet been found.

Before knowing how many genes we have, we must first be clear about what a gen. While the definition has evolved from Mendel, but focused when the HGP was launched, mainly in the genes that encode proteins, that is, in genome regions that are transcribed in RNA and then they translate to create proteins.

But many human genes are non -coding, the original HGP article, in 2001, acknowledged that: "Thousands of human genes produce non -coding RNAs such as their final product"

From all this we can use the following definition of GEN: any interval along the chromosomal DNA that is transcribed in a functional RNA molecule that is transcribed in RNA and then translates into a functional protein. In this definition they are being included, non -coding RNA genes and genes that encode proteins, as well as all alternative cut and splicing variants in a single locus, would be other variants within the same gene.

This definition aims to exclude pseudogenes, which are non -functional remains of true genes, raises the question of what is understood by functional, since a really complete definition of gene would carry many pages.