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Organization of the human genome
Author(s) -
Craig I. W.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of inherited metabolic disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1573-2665
pISSN - 0141-8955
DOI - 10.1007/bf00711355
Subject(s) - genome , human genome , biology , human genetics , gene , genetics , computational biology , genome size , evolutionary biology
Summary The human genome contains about 3×10 9 base pairs which, based on average estimates for the size of coding regions, might suggest an upper limit of about 3 million genes. Evidence from a variety of approaches indicates a much lower figure — in the range 40 000–100 000 genes. Renaturation kinetic analysis reveals the presence of many repetitive elements in the human genome. Some of these are quite simple and highly reiterated, others are more complex and exist in fewer copies. The distribution and function of some of these families and the evolution of complex genomes from simpler ones are discussed.