Related topics: proceedings of the national academy of sciences , cells , protein , gene expression , fruit flies
Gene
hideA gene is the basic unit of heredity in a living organism. All living things depend on genes. Genes hold the information to build and maintain their cells and pass genetic traits to offspring. A modern working definition of a gene is "a locatable region of genomic sequence, corresponding to a unit of inheritance, which is associated with regulatory regions, transcribed regions, and or other functional sequence regions " . In common usage, the term gene often refers to what is known more accurately as an allele.
The notion of a gene has evolved with the science of genetics, which began when Gregor Mendel noticed that biological variations are inherited from parent organisms as specific, discrete traits. The biological entity responsible for defining traits was termed a gene, but the biological basis for inheritance remained unknown until DNA was identified as the genetic material in the 1940s. All organisms have many genes corresponding to many different biological traits, some of which are immediately visible, such as eye color or number of limbs, and some of which are not, such as blood type or increased risk for specific diseases, or the thousands of basic biochemical processes that comprise life.
In cells, a gene is a portion of DNA that contains both "coding" sequences that determine what the gene does, and "non-coding" sequences that determine when the gene is active (expressed). When a gene is active, the coding and non-coding sequences are copied in a process called transcription, producing an RNA copy of the gene's information. This piece of RNA can then direct the synthesis of proteins via the genetic code. In other cases, the RNA is used directly, for example as part of the ribosome. The molecules resulting from gene expression, whether RNA or protein, are known as gene products, and are responsible for the development and functioning of all living things.
In more technical terms, a gene is a locatable region of genomic sequence, corresponding to a unit of inheritance, and is associated with regulatory regions, transcribed regions and/or other functional sequence regions. The physical development and phenotype of organisms can be thought of as a product of genes interacting with each other and with the environment. A concise definition of a gene, taking into account complex patterns of regulation and transcription, genic conservation and non-coding RNA genes, has been proposed by Gerstein et al.: "A gene is a union of genomic sequences encoding a coherent set of potentially overlapping functional products".
For more information about Gene, read the full article at
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News tagged with genes
Researchers Discover Mutations in Two Genes that Cause Early-Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team including researchers with the National Institutes of Health has discovered that mutations in either of two related genes cause a severe and rare form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) ...
Scientists reveal how induced pluripotent stem cells differ from embryonic stem cells
Nov 05, 2009 |
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The same genes that are chemically altered during normal cell differentiation, as well as when normal cells become cancer cells, are also changed in stem cells that scientists derive from adult cells, according to new research ...
Termites? gut reactions show how to improve renewable fuel, researchers say
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Termite damage costs the U.S. more than $1 billion each year, but that same destructive power might help solve one of the nation’s most pressing economic quandaries: sustainable fuel production.
Importance of different cell types underestimated
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Choosing the right cell type is particularly important in genetic studies. This is apparent from research published on 16 October in PLoS Genetics. Dutch researcher Alice Gerrits has shown how variations in the genome can in ...
McGill researchers identify key genetic factors which can lead to cancer
Nov 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at McGill University have discovered a previously unknown series of interactions between genes that control whether cells become cancerous. The discovery may lead to a new generation of targeted ...
Drunken fruit flies help scientists find potential drug target for alcoholism
Nov 03, 2009 |
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A group of drunken fruit flies have helped researchers from North Carolina State and Boston universities identify entire networks of genes—also present in humans—that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior. This discovery, ...
Two genes cooperate to cause aggressive leukemia
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Two genes, each one of which is known to cause cancer on its own, together can lead to aggressive leukaemia. This is the conclusion from new research carried out on gene-modified mice at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University ...
Gene Increases Susceptibility to Post-Traumatic Stress, Researchers Find
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A gene variant makes people who experienced trauma as children or adults more susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Yale researchers have found.
Scientists create fruit fly model to help unravel genetics of human diabetes
Nov 02, 2009 |
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As rates of obesity, diabetes, and related disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the US in recent years, scientists are working from many angles to pinpoint the causes and contributing factors involved ...
Slimming gene regulates body fat
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Scientists at the University of Bonn, Germany, have discovered a previously unknown fruit fly gene that controls the metabolism of fat. Larvae in which this gene is defective lose their entire fat reserves. Therefore the ...
'Moonlighting' molecules discovered
Oct 29, 2009 |
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Since the completion of the human genome sequence, a question has baffled researchers studying gene control: How is it that humans, being far more complex than the lowly yeast, do not proportionally contain in our genome ...
Hunting for the Prozac gene
Oct 27, 2009 |
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Prozac works wonders for some depressed people, but not for others. In some cases, patients derive little benefit and at worst, it can lead to bizarre hallucinations and fits of rage. Researchers and doctors remain puzzled ...
New 'schizophrenia gene' prompts researchers to test potential drug target
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 27, 2009 |
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Johns Hopkins scientists report having used a commercially available drug to successfully "rescue" animal brain cells that they had intentionally damaged by manipulating a newly discovered gene that links susceptibility genes ...
The skeleton: Size matters
Oct 27, 2009 |
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Vertebrates have in common a skeleton made of segments, the vertebrae. During development of the embryo, each segment is added in a time dependent manner, from the head-end to the tail-end: the first segments to be added ...
Genes that drive you to drink (but don't make you an alcoholic)
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Your genetic make up may predispose you to drink more but may not increase your genetic risk for alcoholism (alcohol dependence). Research published in the open access journal, BMC Biology, pinpoints genetic pathways and ge ...
