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Sunday, April 29, 2018

Facts On Epigenetics And Genes In General

By Carl Rogers


Our DNA is what makes us so different from other people. Everyone has a unique set of genetic material which can help in identification. In DNA there is the section of epigenetics. This is the study of changes in gene activity that is not brought about by the change in the gene sequence. The article below elaborates on genes.

In both plants and animals, it is not advisable to cross-breed related ones. This is because it may bring complications despite both parents being in good health. This is usually because the DNA is very similar. The result of relatives coming together is usually offspring that have some defective characteristics thus closely related organisms should be separated.

A chimera is one is an organism with patches of different DNA. This may occur as a result of mosaicism which is a process by which genes mutate and form a whole new strand of DNA. An embryo of about 8-16 cells old faces the possibility of undergoing this process. In the case of twins, they may interact and form DNA before they become separate individuals.

Proteins are coded in 3 base layers in DNA. After copying of the DNA, there is the mechanism of proof-reading that confirms the copy is the same as the original. Mistakes can be made in the proof reading although they are rare. For example, in Haringtons disease, there is the duplication of CAG. As the mistakes accumulate with each generation, the disease is worse from parent to child.

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.

All living things on the face of the earth have a similar DNA structure. These are usually four bases. This is an implication of one of two things. All living things have a common ancestry, or these four bases are the only way that stable DNA can be formed. A slightly altered base structure was fed into cells which were incorporated as DNA. This means that our first ancestor decided on the base structure of our DNA.

There is the possibility of three-parent babies. This may be really confusing, but it does not involve three individuals. A person gets half their chromosomes from their father and the half from their mother. The mitochondria, however, are all from their mother. If they have mutated, they may bring a problem and this may be solved by putting the nucleus into a none fertilized egg.




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