The human genome is what makes us who we are as humans. It is made up of about 3 billion different parts called nucleotides. (University of California at Santa Cruz). Nucleotides are the units that make up DNA. A nucleotide is made up of 3 parts called the deoxyribose molecule, a phosphate group and a nitrogen base. There are 4 types of bases in DNA: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. DNA is in the form of a double helix. (Miller and Levine) Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. You get 23 single chromosomes from each parent that come together to form the 23 pairs that make you who you are. (See Shevick) DNA and RNA Sequencing Think of sequencing like decoding, but a genome is far too long to decode in one go, so scientists select small pieces of the genome and attempt to decode that small part. (The Genome News Network) Once they have many parts, the next step is to put the decoded parts in the correct order. It's like a big puzzle or matching game that takes many years to solve. Scientists use two different ways to decode DNA. (The Genome News Network) The first is called clone by clone method and the other is called whole genome shot method. Clone by clone, they cut the genome into about 150,000 base pairs or nucleotides, then used genome mapping to determine where each part should go. Then they cut it into even smaller parts, around 500 pairs, so they can work more easily and decode the information. The other method, the shotgun method, involves breaking the genome into much smaller parts, decoding them, and putting them back together. The first method is much slower but more reliable, as the shotgun can be very fast but difficult to use. Both...... middle of paper ......ct_scientific_failure_disease.html#Annas G. Who's afraid of the human genome?. National Forum [online series]. nd;73(2):35. Available from: Science Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 2, 2014. Ascension Health Human Genome Project, accessed 2014-03-02 http://www.ascensionhealth.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=172National Human Genome Research Institute, ethical, legal and social Implications (ELSI) Research consulted on 03/02/2014 http://www.genome.gov/10002229Ethical, legal and social implications consulted on 03/02/2014 http://library.lanl.gov/ cgi-bin/getfile?20-11.pdfBiologists launch human genome project. (1999). Great scientific achievements (p. 1093). Salem Press. Jennifer Welsh, What Cheap Genome Sequencing Means for the Future of Medicine, published September 7, 2012, 9:57 a.m., accessed 2014-03-02