Genetics

Hi Steemians, I am here again with an interesting write up on Genetics. I would try to make it as simple as possible so that those who are not really into science and medicine would try to understand easily…
First of all to all those who have little or no knowledge on genetics, Genetics is the scientific study of
heredity, variations and the environmental factors responsible for these. Basically or in a lame man language genetics is the study of the function and behavior of genes. Genetics I can say is the basic thing that makes cells function the way they do. The genes are stored in the nucleus of the cells. As I earlier said that every living things have genes embedded in them. These genes are transferred from one generation to the other. Some people might be wondering why some traits that are present in their parents are also evident in the; the simple answer is that since your parent’s gamete fused to form you, there is a mixture of genetic information from both parents.

Basic Terminologies in Genetics

1. Genes: At the simplest level, a gene is described as the fundamental unit of heredity, it can also be thought as a unit of information that encodes a genetic characteristic.
2. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid): According to Medical Dictionary, “DNA is a nucleic acid that carries genetic information in cells and some viruses, consisting of two long chains of nucleotides twisted into a double helix and join by hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases adenine and thymine or cytosine and guanine”. Now some after reading what DNA means might not still understand what it actually means because it sounds too complicated for them it is ok this is for you “DNA is the fundamental and distinctive characteristic or qualities of someone, it is regarded as the carrier of genetic information”.
3. RNA (Ribonucleic Acid): If you are actually following you will notice that the only difference in the name of RNA and DNA is the “Deoxy”. Now RNA is also a nucleic acid present in all living cells, it acts as a messenger carrying instructions for the synthesis of proteins.
4. Chromosomes: They are tiny thread-like structures found in the nucleus of a cell. Some describe them as carriers of heredity. In other words they store and transmit the coded information which is responsible for all the life processes of an organism.
5. Phenotype: This is the physical expression of genes in an organism i.e the observable characters of an individual.
6. Genotype: as the name implies geno-type; this is the genetic constitution of a cell.

There are other terminologies but for the sake of simplicity I wouldn’t go further on the terminologies.
Applications of Genetics
• Resolving Paternity Dispute: We all would have heard of a situation whereby there is confusion over who is the father of a child. Yea it’s called Paternity Dispute. Genetics is used in resolving such dispute. The pattern of blood groups is sometimes used to settle legal cases involving disputed paternity.
• In Agriculture: Farmers enjoy seeing their crops yielding in great amount, because of this want researchers discovered that when you breed a maize that has a large cob but no grains against a maize that has a smaller cob but has enough grains all over it, you get a hybrid specie that has a large cob and enough grains.
• Genetic Engineering: This is a part of genetics that interests me, because the fact than you can tweak genes to get the desired product you want, isn’t that interesting? Yea it is! That implies that if you want to have a baby boy that is tall, dark, handsome (like me), have blue eyes, pointed nose, nice lips e.t.c you can actually get your desired result. Genetic engineering according to Britannica “is the artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism…”

Anticipate a write up on Mutation
That will be all for today, don’t forget to upvote, resteem, and comment and also follow for more ….