ABSTRACT
Our reasons for devoting a chapter to the human genome are not entirely anthropocentric. It provides an opportunity for us to look at the important features of a eukaryotic genome in more detail than has been possible so far in this book. Complete genome sequences have been obtained for more than 80 eukaryotes, including examples of all the major evolutionary groups, and for some key species sequences have been obtained from different individuals, enabling intraspecifi c variations to be identifi ed (Table 19.1). Among the eukaryotes, we see extensive differences in gene numbers and in the ways in which the genes are organized within chromosomes. The human genome is a typical example of a mammalian genome, and it also illustrates many of the general features of the genomes of all animals and plants. By focusing on the human genome we can therefore learn more about the biology of our own species while gaining an understanding of how genomes are organized in many other species.
