A Quick Guide To Genetics
Genetics is all about scientists changing ‘procedures’ for making life. genes are found in all living things. It may surprise you to know that the genes in a whale are no bigger than the genes in a snail. genes are pieces of information about how to create parts of living bodies. It’s a bit like a small computer or to put is simply it is like recipe for a cake. genes are all wrapped up in long pieces of string that are called chromosomes. All the instructions for the creation of me or you are crammed in to the middle of tiny cells. There are millions of these cells and they all stick together. How all of this process happens no body really knows but what we do know is that it is complicated. As we grow some of the cells split into identical pairs. You could compare this to copying a CD or tape to say LABORATORY MICE. So every living thing on the planet from an ant to an elephant or a penguin to a human has a genetic code inside of it. DNA is like a human thumbprint there is no two pieces of DNA identical, unless you are an identical twin. The DNA nucleus is grouped into 23 sets of chromosomes these sets are called genome. DNA is grouped into genes each genome carries around 35,000 genes . Each gene carries information that communicates with the cell to make a protein that performs a particular function. These tiny cells contain all of the instructions that make your whole body keep working. In the nucleus of nearly every cell within your body is where the information is stored to make your body work. The genes which are inside your body hold the information which denotes whether your eyes are blue or green, whether or not you have straight or curly hair, blond or ginger hair. genes from a variety of traits are passed down through families from parent to child. Ie. If your parents have black hair then the probability is that you, your brother or sister will too have black hair, which surprisingly is the same in HEALTH. This is not always the case and once in a while a baby with blond hair will be born to parents who have black hair. Genetic testing can also be done on babies to see weather they have abnormalities before they are even born. The Amniocentesis test is performed during the 16th to 18th week of pregnancy. The doctor removes a small amount of amniotic fluid from around the baby and this can be tested to check for genetic problems and to determine the sex of a child. Many different sorts of body fluids and tissues can be used in genetic screening. For DNA screening only a very small amount of skin, blood, bone or other tissue is needed. Genetic testing has developed enough so that doctors can identify defective or missing genes . Genetic tests are completed by taking a small sample of blood or body tissue. The can determine whether you carry genes for certain hereditary disorders.