Genetics
hideGenetics (from Ancient Greek γενετικός genetikos, “genitive” and that from γένεσις genesis, “origin”), a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding. However, the modern science of genetics, which seeks to understand the process of inheritance, only began with the work of Gregor Mendel in the mid-nineteenth century. Although he did not know the physical basis for heredity, Mendel observed that organisms inherit traits via discrete units of inheritance, which are now called genes.
Genes correspond to regions within DNA, a molecule composed of a chain of four different types of nucleotides—the sequence of these nucleotides is the genetic information organisms inherit. DNA naturally occurs in a double stranded form, with nucleotides on each strand complementary to each other. Each strand can act as a template for creating a new partner strand—this is the physical method for making copies of genes that can be inherited.
The sequence of nucleotides in a gene is translated by cells to produce a chain of amino acids, creating proteins—the order of amino acids in a protein corresponds to the order of nucleotides in the gene. This relationship between nucleotide sequence and amino acid sequence is known as the genetic code. The amino acids in a protein determine how it folds into a three-dimensional shape; this structure is, in turn, responsible for the protein's function. Proteins carry out almost all the functions needed for cells to live. A change to the DNA in a gene can change a protein's amino acids, changing its shape and function: this can have a dramatic effect in the cell and on the organism as a whole. Two additional factors that can change the shape of the protein are pH and temperature.
Although genetics plays a large role in the appearance and behavior of organisms, it is the combination of genetics with what an organism experiences that determines the ultimate outcome. For example, while genes play a role in determining an organism's size, the nutrition and other conditions it experiences after inception also have a large effect.
For more information about Genetics, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with genetic
Gene Hijacked By HIV Ancestor Suggests New Way to Block Viral Reproduction
10 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An ancestor of the AIDS virus hijacked an entire gene, perhaps from some prehistoric cat it had infected, a gene that makes it much better able to infect humans, according to a study published ...
Study finds new relationship between gene duplication and alternative splicing in plants
12 hours ago |
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University of Georgia scientists looking to understand the genetic mechanisms of plant defense and growth have found for the first time in plants an inverse relationship between gene duplication and alternative ...
Type 2 diabetes gene predisposes children to obesity
16 hours ago |
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Pediatric researchers have found that a gene already implicated in the development of type 2 diabetes in adults also raises the risk of being overweight during childhood. The finding sheds light on the genetic origins of ...
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Genetic variations indicate risk of recurrence, secondary cancer among head and neck cancer patients
14 hours ago |
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Eighteen single-point genetic variations indicate risk of recurrence for early-stage head and neck cancer patients and their likelihood of developing a second type of cancer, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson ...
New hope for diagnosis and treatment of intractable pediatric brain tumors
15 hours ago |
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Scientists have discovered oncogenes capable of driving growth of normal human brain stem cells in a highly malignant pediatric brain tumor. The research, published by Cell Press in the December issue of the journal Cancer Ce ...
New approach to sickle-cell disease shows promise in mice
14 hours ago |
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A new genetic approach to treating sickle cell disease is showing promising results in mice, report researchers from Children's Hospital Boston. By inactivating a gene they previously discovered to be important in the laboratory, ...
Fit teenage boys are smarter, but muscle strength isn't the secret
16 hours ago |
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In the first study to demonstrate a clear positive association between adolescent fitness and adult cognitive performance, Nancy Pedersen of the University of Southern California and colleagues in Sweden find that better ...
Tiny RNA has big impact on lung cancer tumors
23 hours ago |
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Researchers from Yale University and Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., reversed the growth of lung tumors in mice using a naturally occurring tumor suppressor microRNA. The study reveals that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a ...
Antioxidant compound reduced incidence of colorectal metachronous adenomas
23 minutes ago |
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Supplementation with a selenium-based antioxidant compound decreased the risk of developing new polyps of the large bowel — called colorectal metachronous adenomas — in people who previously had colorectal polyps removed.
H1N1 more risky than seasonal flu in children with sickle cell disease
19 hours ago |
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Infection with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, causes more life-threatening complications than seasonal flu in children with sickle cell disease, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The findings, to ...
Dutch PhD develops fast method for preparing flu vaccine
13 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A shortage of flu vaccines may soon become a thing of the past. Researcher Manon Cox has designed an alternative process for producing large quantities of safe and effective vaccines at twice to four times ...
Childhood traumas linger as health risk factors for adults
11 hours ago |
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Research from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London has found that negative experiences in childhood may alter not only mental health but also physical health, into middle age and beyond.
Spices halt growth of breast stem cells, study finds
11 hours ago |
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A new study finds that compounds derived from the spices turmeric and pepper could help prevent breast cancer by limiting the growth of stem cells, the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth.
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