Community Genomes: using the example of Bauhinia Genome for genomics education. What is a genome project, and why are they important?

What is a Genome?

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Do you know what a genome is?

All the genetic code in an organism. In the human that would be all the DNA from the 23 pairs of chromosomes.

How large is the human genome?

The human genome, all the instructions to code a living person is 3 billion basepairs (bp) in length. Writing these letters out in a book would produce roughly 1,000 volumes of the size of the Bible. All this is wrapped up into an organisms cell.

Stretching out all of the DNA in a human cell, end-to-end would stretch out 2 meters long,

Stretching out all of the DNA in all your 50 trillions cells would stretch to the moon and back 100,000 times.

http://i1.wp.com/bauhiniagenome.hk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/chromosome_lg_adv.jpg

If you've not already covered the genetic code, see the BBC’s resources on this. For an overview of Human Chromosomes and Genes, see also CK12 for additional material.