There are trillions of cells in the human body and each cell contains a nucleus. Within the nucleus, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes. The chromosomes contain the DNA or Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid. These chromosomes are basically an instruction set for the construction and maintenance of you. A part of the DNA contains genes. It is this gene which carries a specific character or behavior which a human has.
Every gene has a proper laid out syntax, grammar and a word which spells out the trait of an individual. The genes contain a large pairing of nucleotides, i.e. A, T, G, and C. The pairing decides what character a human being will possess. Even a slight change in the pairing of the nucleotides will completely change the behavior of the human in question. It is basically the way the nucleotides are put which largely account for the variety in the physical, and behavioral aspects of human beings.
Human genetic engineering has the potential to change human beings’ appearance, adaptability, intelligence, character and behavior.
The human variety or the race is a very confusing topic since it’s difficult to determine what makes the black and the white, the African and the American different from each other in looks. It is definitely the genes. That is the reason why we know that why does a child resemble its parents. The skin color though, is controlled by more than one gene. when combined with studies on modern human and Neanderthal DNA, it is clear that Pleistocene Earth witnessed hominid biological variation at the species level (White Tim, D, Human Variety: Evolution’s Creation).
Also, human genetic engineering is also put into use in cases where a human is suffering from any kind of an illness. Moreover, women who are unable to bear children are treated with this technique. Also, the genetic engineering helps the scientist to find out what is the function of a particular gene. It also finds out the consequences if a gene is mutated.
There are several ways through which genetic engineering is accomplished. Essentially, the process has five main steps:
- Isolation of the genes of interest
- Insertion of the genes into a transfer vector
- transfer of vector to the organism to be modified
- Transformation of cells of organism
- Separation of the genetically modified organism (GMO) from those that have not been successfully modified.
There are two important terms related to genes which are ‘Genotype’ and ‘Phenotype’. Genotype is what one inherits from parents and Phenotype is what one actually turns out to be. Other human traits are polygenic, which means that they are controlled by several genes that contribute in an additive fashion. This polygenic inheritance is important in telling us the diseases and other allergies one may inherit from his or her ancestors. An important fact is that if one compare any two human beings, one would infer that even though the two humans are totally different in appearance and behavior, their DNA would be 99.9% same.
What we inherit from our ancestors is also something which is a domain of genetics. Our past is revealed by the genetic engineers or scientists by studying our DNA and hence information about our ancestors can be predicted.
Works Cited Page
White Tim, D. Human Variety: Evolution’s Creation. Web.