Back to B6 home
B6 A) DNA
B6 A) DNA
The nucleus of cells contains deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is a long polymer made up of two strands forming a double helix. The DNA is contained in structures called chromosomes; humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, which is 46 chromosomes in total. Chromosomes come in pairs as we get 23 chromosomes from our mother and 23 chromosomes from our father.
A chromosome may have several thousand genes in it. Each gene is a short section of DNA that codes for a particular sequence of amino acids that are put together to make a specific protein. There are 20 different amino acids, and they can be arranged in many different ways to make many different proteins. The gene gives the cells the instructions to make the desired protein. Examples of proteins that the genes code for are haemoglobin, all enzymes (amylase, proteases, lipase etc) and many more. The different proteins that the cell produces determines the type of cell that the cell becomes, such as a red blood cell, villi cell, skin cell etc.
Genome
The genome of an organism is the entire genetic material of that organism.
Thousands of scientists from around the world have worked together to find all of the different genes in humans. The project was known as the human genome project and it started in 1990 and finished in 2003. The project discovered that there are around 20,500 different human genes. The project then went on to find what each of the 20,500 genes coded for. The human genome project has huge benefits for medicine and the health of individuals.
The Benefits
The first benefit is that certain diseases are caused by a single gene or the interaction between a few different genes. When we know which gene or genes increase the likelihood of developing a certain disease, we can scan the DNA of individuals to find out whether they have this particular gene or genes. If they do have the gene or genes, we can then give them advice on ways that they can reduce their chances of developing the disease or ways to slow the onset of the disease. For example, some genes increase the chances of developing heart disease, and we can give individuals who have these genes advice on diets and exercise to reduce their chances of developing heart disease. Also, health care professionals can see these individuals regularly and give them early diagnosis/ treatment when they start to develop the disease; earlier diagnosis for diseases increases the likelihood of survival from the disease.
Knowing more about the genes of individuals means that we can make more informed decisions as to the most effective way to treat a particular individual with certain genes. This is because certain drugs/ dosage of drugs/ treatments will work better on individuals with particular genes. We can also use all of the data on genes and treatments to develop new drugs and improve existing drugs to make their treatments more effective.
A final benefit of the human genome project is that we can use genomes to trace human migration patterns from the past. We know that humans came from a common ancestor in Africa, and then they migrated around the world. The majority of the genomes for humans is identical, but there are small differences between the genomes of humans across the world. Scientists can scan the genomes of individuals and analyse them to see when populations migrated away and what route their migration took.
The Downsides of Scanning Genes
We have gone through the benefits of scanning the genes of individuals to see if they have an increased risk of developing certain diseases. There are a few downsides of doing this and here are some of them:
The genome of an organism is the entire genetic material of that organism.
Thousands of scientists from around the world have worked together to find all of the different genes in humans. The project was known as the human genome project and it started in 1990 and finished in 2003. The project discovered that there are around 20,500 different human genes. The project then went on to find what each of the 20,500 genes coded for. The human genome project has huge benefits for medicine and the health of individuals.
The Benefits
The first benefit is that certain diseases are caused by a single gene or the interaction between a few different genes. When we know which gene or genes increase the likelihood of developing a certain disease, we can scan the DNA of individuals to find out whether they have this particular gene or genes. If they do have the gene or genes, we can then give them advice on ways that they can reduce their chances of developing the disease or ways to slow the onset of the disease. For example, some genes increase the chances of developing heart disease, and we can give individuals who have these genes advice on diets and exercise to reduce their chances of developing heart disease. Also, health care professionals can see these individuals regularly and give them early diagnosis/ treatment when they start to develop the disease; earlier diagnosis for diseases increases the likelihood of survival from the disease.
Knowing more about the genes of individuals means that we can make more informed decisions as to the most effective way to treat a particular individual with certain genes. This is because certain drugs/ dosage of drugs/ treatments will work better on individuals with particular genes. We can also use all of the data on genes and treatments to develop new drugs and improve existing drugs to make their treatments more effective.
A final benefit of the human genome project is that we can use genomes to trace human migration patterns from the past. We know that humans came from a common ancestor in Africa, and then they migrated around the world. The majority of the genomes for humans is identical, but there are small differences between the genomes of humans across the world. Scientists can scan the genomes of individuals and analyse them to see when populations migrated away and what route their migration took.
The Downsides of Scanning Genes
We have gone through the benefits of scanning the genes of individuals to see if they have an increased risk of developing certain diseases. There are a few downsides of doing this and here are some of them:
- Increased stress and worry. If you have been told that you are at an increased risk of developing a disease, you are likely to become more stressed/ anxious about the future and any symptoms of that disease. The increased stress/ anxiety could reduce your quality of life and may even increase your risk of developing other diseases.
- We may get to a point in the future whereby individuals may have to give their genomes to insurers for health insurance or travel insurance. If the insurer notices that you have certain genes that increase your chances of developing a disease, they may be less inclined to insure you for that disease; they may not insure you at all or charge you more money to be insured. Also, we may have to give our genomes to potential employers who may discriminate because they would not want to employ individuals that may become sick as the employer will have to pay sick pay and find another employee to cover whilst the individual is off.
- It may lead to gene-ism, which is where individuals that have certain genes/ genetic disorders may feel like they shouldn’t have children so that they do not pass on their faulty genes to future generations.