What makes dna vital to the individuality of humans

Genes are a section of DNA that are in charge of different functions like making proteins. Long strands of DNA with lots of genes make up chromosomes.

DNA molecules are found in chromosomes. Chromosomes are located inside of the nucleus of cells. Each chromosome is one long single molecule of DNA. This DNA contains important genetic information. Chromosomes have a unique structure, which helps to keep the DNA tightly wrapped around the proteins called histones. If the DNA molecules were not bound by the histones, they would be too long to fit inside of the cell.

Genes vary in complexity. In humans, they range in size from a few hundred DNA bases to more than 2 million bases. Different living things have different shapes and numbers of chromosomes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, or a total of A donkey has 31 pairs of chromosomes, a hedgehog has 44, and a fruit fly has just 4.

DNA is passed from adult organisms to their offspring during reproduction. The building blocks of DNA are called nucleotides. Nucleotides have three parts: A phosphate group, a sugar group and one of four types of nitrogen bases.

A gene consists of a long combination of four different nucleotide bases, or chemicals. There are many possible combinations. Different combinations of the letters ACGT give people different characteristics. Genes carry the codes ACGT. Each person has thousands of genes.

They are like a computer program, and they make the individual what they are. A gene is a tiny section of a long DNA double helix molecule, which consists of a linear sequence of base pairs. A gene is any section along the DNA with instructions encoded that allow a cell to produce a specific product — usually a protein, such as an enzyme — that triggers one precise action.

DNA is the chemical that appears in strands. This is what makes each person unique. DNA is made up of two long-paired strands spiraled into the famous double helix. Each strand contains millions of chemical building blocks called bases. Genes decide almost everything about a living being. One or more genes can affect a specific trait. Genes affect hundreds of internal and external factors, such as whether a person will get a particular color of eyes or what diseases they may develop.

A gene is a basic unit of heredity in a living organism. Genes come from our parents. We may inherit our physical traits and the likelihood of getting certain diseases and conditions from a parent. Genes contain the data needed to build and maintain cells and pass genetic information to offspring. Each cell contains two sets of chromosomes: One set comes from the mother and the other comes from the father. The male sperm and the female egg carry a single set of 23 chromosomes each, including 22 autosomes plus an X or Y sex chromosome.

A female inherits an X chromosome from each parent, but a male inherits an X chromosome from their mother and a Y chromosome from their father. It is the largest single research activity ever carried out in modern science. It aims to determine the sequence of the chemical pairs that make up human DNA and to identify and map the 20, to 25, or so genes that make up the human genome.

An invaluable first step in making these determinations is learning the nucleotide sequences of the DNA segments under study. Another area of science that relies heavily on DNA sequencing is comparative genomics, in which researchers compare the genetic material of different organisms in order to learn about their evolutionary history and degree of relatedness.

DNA sequencing has also aided complex disease research by allowing scientists to catalogue certain genetic variations between individuals that may influence their susceptibility to different conditions. How can all people benefit from DNA sequencing? More about sequencing. DNA sequencing technologies Sequencing the human genome. Watch this video for a summary of the Sanger sequencing process. How much does gene sequencing cost?

How was the human genome sequenced? What happens during DNA replication? Who, exactly, discovered DNA? How has the polymerase chain reaction PCR revolutionized biotechnology? What has genomics done for the biofuel industry? What ethical problems does DNA sequencing raise? How is sequencing done on a large scale? Who was Frederick Sanger? Key Concepts Human Genome Project bioinformatics genome. Topic rooms within Genetics Close. No topic rooms are there. Browse Visually.

Other Topic Rooms Genetics. Student Voices. Creature Cast. Simply Science. Green Screen. Green Science. Bio 2. The Success Code. Why Science Matters. The Beyond. Plant ChemCast. Postcards from the Universe. Brain Metrics. Many scientists already suspected this, but with ENCODE, we now have a large, standardized data set that can be used by individual labs to probe these potentially functional areas.

Likewise, because it was such a large project with strict quality controls, we can be sure that the data are reproducible and reliable. Although the main benefits stemming from this project may not be realized for some years similar to the Human Genome Project , at the moment there are already some areas where this enormous data set will be useful.

There are a host of diseases that seem to be associated with genetic mutations; however, many of the mutations that have been discovered are not within actual genes, which makes it difficult to understand what functional changes the mutations cause.

Using the data from the ENCODE project, researchers will be able to hone in on the disease-causing mutations more quickly, since they can now associate the mutations with functional sequences found in the ENCODE database. By matching these two, researchers and doctors should be able to start understanding why a particular mutation causes a disease, which will help with the development of appropriate therapies.

Though the ENCODE project was a remarkable feat of scientific collaboration, there is still controversy surrounding the project [5, 6, 7]. Some biologists have also voiced their concerns regarding how the results of the project were presented to the public, both in terms of the hype surrounding the project and the results themselves.

Because of the expense and complexity of these types of studies, it is important for scientists to present an impartial perspective. The need for careful presentation to the public was demonstrated by the hype surrounding a recent paper published by NASA scientists on bacteria that could use arsenic in a way that had never been observed before.

After announcing that they had discovered something new and exciting, even to the point of calling a press conference, the self-generated hype eventually imploded after the findings were ultimately refuted [].

As with any new large-scale project, both scientists and the public must be patient in assigning value until the true benefits of the project can be realized. As others have noted, just because a given DNA sequence binds protein or is associated with some chemical modification does not necessarily mean that it is functional or serves a useful role. Many protein binding events are random and inconsequential. All of these concerns are certainly justified, and, in fact, the conversation surrounding the project demonstrates precisely how science is supposed to work.

It will most likely take years to fully understand how ENCODE has helped the scientific community, but nevertheless, this project has highlighted how important it is to study the genome as a whole, not only to understand why we have so much non-coding DNA within each and every cell, but also to inform us on topics that are relevant to the majority of people, notably how rare or multiple genetic mutations lead to the development of disease.

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