THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
TEACHING TOOLS
Explore Genomic Resources
Our free resource library is packed full of lesson plans, videos, interactive games and other educational content from the National Human Genome Research Institute and our partners.
Read Genomics: Insights
Read articles written by promising researchers about the science they're doing in the lab to inform, educate, and raise awareness about genetics and genomics.
#1
Read Through All of the Interesting Facts About DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule that contains the biological instructions that make each species unique. Read through a fact sheet from the National Human Genome Research Institute to learn all you need to know about the where to find DNA, its shape, its discovery and several other interesting facts.
#2
The 1962 Nobel Prize For DNA (nobelprize.org)
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 was awarded jointly to Francis Harry Compton Crick, James Dewey Watson and Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material."
#3
Rosalind Franklin: DNA's Unsung Hero (TED-Ed)
The discovery of the structure of DNA was one of the most important scientific achievements in human history. The now-famous double helix is almost synonymous with Watson and Crick, two of the scientists who won the Nobel prize for figuring it out. But there’s another name you may not know: Rosalind Franklin. Cláudio L. Guerra shares the true story of the woman behind the helix in this TED-Ed presentation.
#4
The Rosalind Franklin Papers: The DNA Riddle: King's College, London, 1951-1953 (The National Library of Medicine)
As part of its Profiles in Science project, the National Library of Medicine collaborated with the Churchill Archives Centre to digitize and make available over the World Wide Web a selection of the Rosalind Franklin Papers for use by educators and researchers.
This online exhibit is designed to introduce various phases of Franklin's scientific career and professional life. It is divided into sections that focus on Franklin's life and major scientific contributions. This section describes Franklin’s two-year effort in helping describe the double helix.
“Franklin had always been direct, honest, and unafraid of argument; indeed, with her colleagues in Paris, she learned to enjoy "a good row." As friends and family often noted, she could be kind, generous, and fun, but she did not suffer fools gladly.”
#5
The Francis Crick Papers: The Discovery Of The Double Helix, 1951-1953 (The National Library Of Medicine)
The name of British Nobel laureate Francis Crick (1916-2004) is inextricably tied to the discovery of the double helix of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 1953, considered the most significant advance in the understanding of biology since Darwin's theory of evolution.
As part of its Profiles in Science project, the National Library of Medicine has collaborated with the Wellcome Library to digitize and make available over the World Wide Web a selection of the Francis Crick Papers for use by educators and researchers. This site provides access to the portions of the Francis Crick Papers of the Wellcome Library that have been selected for digitization.
This section describes Franklin’s two-year effort in helping describe the double helix. Here we learn, among other things, that the DNA illustration in the landmark 1953 Journal of Nature paper was a schematic drawing of the double helix by Crick's wife, Odile, and that a coin toss decided the order in which they were named as authors.
#6
The Race To Sequence The Human Genome (TED-Ed)
In 1990, The Human Genome Project proposed to sequence the entire human genome over 15 years with $3 billion of public funds. Then, seven years before its scheduled completion, a private company announced that they could accomplish the same goal in just three years at a fraction of the cost. Tien Nguyen details the history of this race to sequence the human genome.
#7
DNA Sequencing Technologies Key To The Human Genome Project (Nature Education)
With the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP), researchers had sequenced all 3.2 billion base pairs in the human genome. How did researchers complete this chromosome map years ahead of schedule? Nature Education looks at the initial goals of the HGP, sequencing techniques employed, and offers a quick lesson in DNA sequencing.
#8
Three Sad Surprises About The Human Genome Project (The SciShow)
Our narrator, Hank, tells us three surprises about human DNA which we learned because of the Human Genome Project.
“Back in 1990 a bunch of scientists decided if they could figure out the exact sequence of all the base pairs in the human genome they could cure disease. So they started the Human Genome Project and researchers from over 20 countries worked 13 years to do it and when they were done they set back and were like “eh eh?”
#9
List Of Sequenced Animal Genomes (Wikipedia)
This Wikipedia list of sequenced animal genomes contains animal species for which complete genome sequences have been assembled, annotated and published. Substantially complete draft genomes are included, but not partial genome sequences or organelle-only sequences.
This list could be easily called a “deep dive” with its choice of using scientific names for animals and categorization via order. However, one click on any listing adds great clarity and valuable insights.
A valuable tool, not to be missed.
(Worth noting: Wikipedia also offers similar resource pages for lists of sequenced bacterial genomes, archaeal genomes, eukaryotic genomes, fungi genomes, plant genomes, and protist genomes.)
#10
How To Sequence The Human Genome (TED-Ed)
Your genome, every human's genome, consists of a unique DNA sequence of A's, T's, C's and G's that tell your cells how to operate. Thanks to technological advances, scientists are now able to know the sequence of letters that makes up an individual genome relatively quickly and inexpensively. TED-Ed and Mark Kiel take an in-depth look at the science behind the sequence.
#11
How Do You Find Out The Significance Of A Genome After Sequencing? (yourgenome.org)
We’ve sequenced the genome, put it back together and identified the genes, but now we need to find out what this genome can tell us and how it compares to other genomes. How does that process work?
#12
What Does DNA Look Like? DNA Imaged With Electron Microscope For The First Time (New Scientist)
It’s the most famous corkscrew in history. Now an electron microscope has captured the famous Watson-Crick double helix in all its glory, by imaging threads of DNA resting on a silicon bed of nails. The technique will let researchers see how proteins, RNA and other biomolecules interact with DNA.
The structure of DNA was originally discovered using X-ray crystallography. This involves X-rays scattering off atoms in crystallised arrays of DNA to form a complex pattern of dots on photographic film. Interpreting the images requires complex mathematics to figure out what crystal structure could give rise to the observed patterns.
The new images are much more obvious, as they are a direct picture of the DNA strands, albeit seen with electrons rather than X-ray photons.
#13
The Poetry Of The Human Genome (National Human Genome Research Institute)
It can be useful to think of a genome and how it works by a set of maps. Some maps are very simple - they may represent basic information such as the locations and intersections of roads. Such a simple map would be like the sequence of a genome: it would reflect the structure of the road, but would not give information about how it's used. And it is in that information were the power of the human genome resides.
President Bill Clinton, geneticists Carlos Bustamante and Eric Lander, neuropsychologist Nancy Wexler and others explain the wonder of the human genome in this recently released video.
#14
GenomeCache (HudsonAlpha Institute For Biotechnology)
GenomeCache is a genetics-based game developed at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. The original GenomeWalk was created for McMillian Park, an outdoor area on the HudsonAlpha campus.
The goal of GenomeCache is to provide an engaging way for students and the public to explore both McMillian Park and the realm of the human genome.
GenomeCache is a freely available for download on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. There are a total of 20 different pathways through the human genome to choose from, each highlighting 15 genetic points of interest.
At each stop in the genome, you will be provided with some background information, fun facts, and given the opportunity to test your knowledge with a trivia question. Get points by finding each location and answering the trivia questions. High scores are posted on the GenomeCache website, as well as a list of possible paths that include explorations named after notable geneticists such as (Harold) Varmus, (Barbara) McClintock, (Victor) McKusick, and (James) Watson.
#15
The Animated Genome (Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code)
The Animated Genome is a captivating 5-minute film featuring disarmingly simple animations of 2-D people, animals, and molecules as it explains key fundamentals of genetics, genomics, and heredity.
This short film conveys more information about DNA and the human genome using clever images and brisk movement than is typically conveyed by traditional (and often less enjoyable) presentations by employing an engaging style, a sharp sense of humor, and scientific accuracy.
In a barrage of perfectly overlapped fundamentals of genomics the animation clearly and simply explains DNA’s triplet code, DNA replication, the ability to offset some genetic tendencies with diet and exercise, sickle cell anemia, and forensic and genealogical uses of DNA.
“DNA is pretty durable,” we learn. It “can last for 100,000 years if you don’t get cremated.”