Genetics

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Genetics

Overview

Prevention

Definition

It is common knowledge that a person's appearance -- height, hair color, skin color, and eye color -- are determined by genes. Mental abilities and natural talents are also affected by heredity, as is the susceptibility to acquire certain diseases.

An inherited, abnormal trait (anomaly) may:

Have no consequence to a person's health or well being -- for example, a white patch of hair or an extended ear lobe.
Be of minor consequence -- for example, color blindness.
Have dramatic effect on the quality or length of life.

For most genetic disorders, genetic counseling is advised. Many people may also want to seek prenatal diagnosis.

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The terms anomaly, abnormality, disorder, defect, disease, and syndrome are not used consistently, and do not have precise definitions.

Alternative Names

Homozygous; Inheritance; Heterozygous; Inheritance patterns; Heredity and disease; Heritable; Genetic markers

Information

Human beings have cells with 46 chromosomes --2 sex chromosomes and 22 pairs of autosomal (non-sex) chromosomes. Males are "46, XY" and females are "46, XX". These chromosomes are made up of extremely long DNA molecules in combination with chromosomal proteins.

Genes are defined by intervals along one of the DNA molecules. The location of the gene is called the locus. Most genes carry information which is necessary to synthesize a protein.

The pairs of autosomal chromosomes (one from the mother and one from the father) carry basically the same information. That is, each has the same genes, but there are slight variations in the DNA sequence of nucleotide bases in each gene.

These slight variations occur in less than 1% of the DNA sequence and produce different variants of a particular gene that are called alleles.

The information contained in the nucleotide sequence of a gene is transcribed to mRNA (messenger RNA) by enzymes in the cell's nucleus and then translated to a protein in the cytoplasm. This protein may be a structural constituent of a given tissue. It may be an enzyme which catalyzes a chemical reaction, or it may be a hormone. There are also many other potential functions for proteins.