Download DNA – The Building Blocks of Life

DNA–TheBuildingBlocksofLife
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Haveyoueverheardoftheexpression‘it’sinyourgenes’?You’vemorethan
likelyheardsomeonetalkaboutDNAorperhapsyouevenknowalittlebitabout
ityourself.Butwhatexactlyisit?WhatdoesDNAstandfor?Howimportantisit?
Andwhyaremedicalresearchersalwaystalkingaboutit?
Tobeginwith,let’stryandputDNAintoperspective.It’ssmall.Verysmall.A
humanhairisabout1hundredthousandnanometersindiameter.Amoleculeof
DNAisjust2nanometersacross.
DNAislocatedinsidethenucleusofthecell.Aswementionedpreviously,the
nucleusofthecellisessentiallyitsbrain.Itcontrolscelldivision,protein
production,cellgrowthandthedevelopmentofthatcellintoaspecifictissue(for
examplemuscletissueorstomachtissue).Ifsomethinggoeswrongwiththe
nucleus,thewholecellisintrouble.SowhatisDNA’sroleinthenucleus?
ThemainroleofDNAisthelong-termstorageofinformation.Youcancompareit
toasetofinstructionsthattellthecellwhattomake,forexample,aspecifictype
ofprotein.SpecificsegmentsofDNAarecalledgenes.Thesegenesare
responsibleforsomeofthetraitsyoucaninheritfromyourparents.Anexample
isthebrown-eyedgene.Thisisaspecificproteinthat’smadeusingthe
instructionsfromDNA.Ifthisproteindoesn’tgetmade(becauseyoudon’thave
thebrowneyedgene),youhavenoorlittlepigmentandyouhaveblueeyes.A
varyingamountofthisproteincangiveyouhazelorgreeneyes.
SowhatdoesDNAstandforandwhatisitmadeof?DNAstandsfor
DeoxyriboNucleicAcidandit’smadeof4partscallednucleobases.Theycanbe
abbreviatedtoA,T,C&G.Thesebasesbondtogetherinaveryspecificway,
whichgivesDNAitscurledlook.
SowhyisDNAsoimportant?Wenowknowthatitplaysakeyroleinmaking
‘you’,you.Whichiswhylawenforcementcanoftenuseittoidentifypeople.
WealsoknowthatnoDNAmeansnoproteinsandabodywithoutproteins
wouldn’tbeabletosurvive.Proteinsareessentialformusclecontractions,
immunity,digestion,hormoneproduction,energyproductionandevengetting
oxygenintoyourblood!
Finally,whyaremedicalresearchersalwaystalkingaboutDNA?Manydiseases
areactuallycausedwhenDNAgoeswrong.AnexampleisDownsyndrome.
Normallyyouinherit1genefrom1parent–soyouendupwith2genes.Downs
iscausedbyhavinganextrachromosome-whichmeansthattheyhave3copies
ofaspecificgeneratherthanthenormal2.Researchersarelookingatgenetic
modification,wheretheycouldpotentiallystopgeneticdiseasesfromoccurring,
orfixthembeforebirth.AnotherexampleofageneticdiseaseisCysticFibrosis.
Thisdiseasecausesseverebreathingdifficulties,asaveryimportantprotein
can’tbemadedueaDNAmutation.Hopefully,atsomepointinthefuture,
doctorswillhavecreatedcuresforgeneticallyinheriteddiseases.
Thisweek’sadvice:Trytoappreciatethemightofsuchasmallmolecule.DNA
maybetiny,butitreallyisthebuildingblockoflife.
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