Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Facts On Epigenetics And Genes In General

By Carl Rogers


This is the study of change in gene activity that is not brought about by the change in the gene sequence. As much as we get our DNA from our parents, at no point will our DNA be similar to that of other people whether we are related or not because this the distinguishing factor in human beings. It can be used for identification and even record keeping in human genes and related factors. The article shades more light on genes and epigenetics.

It is always advisable to avoid inbreeding in both plants and animals. In most cultures, human beings are not allowed to marry their relatives. The result usually is children having defective characteristics like slow development. However, if relatives have intermarried so many times, and the child is married to a person in a similar situation, the child may be superior for example in physical fitness.

Mosaicism is a condition where by cells mutate and form a whole new line of DNA. For embryos, it could happen when they are 8-16 cells old. It may also occur in the case of twins. The embryos tent to interact and later grow as separate individuals with two kinds of DNA. The organism after having patches of each DNA is referred to as a chimera.

Much like any other process, the coding of proteins cells in the body requires proof-reading to ensure no mistakes were made. The copies should be exactly the same as the original copy. Mistakes may lead to conditions such as Haringtons disease. This is because of excessive accumulation of CAG. It may not be a problem, but the disease becomes more prominent over generations.

Millions of years ago, a virus invaded the human body and has been a part of the human DNA for a long time now. A virus may invade the body cells. If mutagens are activated, it may be stopped completely but remain in the cell. Every time the cell is copied, the virus moves on to another cell. If it somehow comes in contact with a reproductive cell, the virus will be all over the individual.

There is the case of jumping genes. These are the king of genes that can detach themselves from a DNA strand and later on reattach themselves. These do not have many effects, and the effects are dominant in maize seeds. Many are times you may have seen that maize grains have a lot of different colors. These are a perfect example of jumping genes.

The DNA of all of the living organism is usually formed on four base strands. This may lead to you thinking that the only four DNA to exist is through this four base strands. This was however proved wrong where there were surviving cells with completely different DNA structures. This means that all living things have a common ancestor who decides the base structure of their DNA.

There is the possibility of a three-parent babies. An embryo gets half genes from the mother and half from the father. The mitochondria, however, come from the mother solely. If they are mutated, then it could raise problems. This can be fixed by normal fertilization taking place but the nucleus is removed and placed into a new egg that does not have a nucleus.




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