What I think about DNA and Genetics

I feel that we should grow organs in side animals, because it could mean that in the very near future we could have shorter waiting lists for those who desperately need new organs to replace their damaged ones.

If we were to go ahead with genetic testing, we may be able to correct the faulty gene, with genetic modification before it is too late.

Producing animals that glow in the dark, growing over -sized cows and genetically modifying animals so that they produce human organs, could help people to live longer because we will hardly see anybody with genetic disorders.

There is something that I do disagree with, it is to do with the issue about the cloning of humans:

I think that cloning a human that is living, breathing and has a mind, and then go and kill it for our own vanity is wrong. However, if scientists were to only grow the human organs and have copies of peoples genes might be worth researching.

Key Facts

• Most of your features are effected by your environment and your genes.

• Genes are found in the nuclei of cells and are the instructions for making proteins.

• Your chromosomes, and genes are in pairs.

• Genes have different versions - that are called alleles.

• Men and women have different sex chromosomes.

• We all have some features in common, we may look like our parents, brothers, sisters etc...
• Doctors can test embryos, fetuses and adults for certain alleles by genetic tests.

• Gene therapy could be used to treat some genetic disorders.

• Some organisms use asexual reproduction and have offspring that are clones.

• Animal clones are produced naturally and artificially.

• Cells in multicellular organisms become specialized very early in the organisms development.

• Stem cells can be used to treat certain genetic disorders.

DNA Cloning the Future

• Many living organisms only need one parent to reproduce~ asexual reproduction.

• Single-celled organisms like bacteria use asexual reproduction.

• The bacteria inherit the genes from only one parent, so the genes are identical to their parents are each other.

• We call genetically identical organisms clones.

• The only difference between them will be caused by their environment.

• Most animals use sexual reproduction.

• The offspring have two parents so they are not clones.

• Clones, however, are sometimes produced we call them identical twins.

• Identical twins have exactly the same genes, but they came from both parents. So they are clones of each other but not clones of their parents.

• Scientists have already cloned animals, this is much more difficult.

• Dolly the sheep was the first ever cloned sheep to be born.

How Dolly was cloned...

• The nucleus was taken from an unfertilized sheep egg cell. The nucleus is then taken out of a body cell from a different sheep, this body cell nucleus was put into the empty egg cell. The cell grows to produce a new animal, its genes will be the same as those animal that donated the body cell nucleus. So it is a clone of that animal.

• It took 277 attempts before Professor Wilmut's team managed to clone Dolly.

• Sadly Dolly died in 2003 aged 6. Dolly's illness may not have been to do with her being cloned, she may have died at an early age anyway, but one case is not enough evidence to decide.

• More research is needed to be done before cloned mammals will grow into healthy adults.

New technology means new decisions

• New technologies are giving us new decisions to make. In the UK Parliament makes the laws to control research and technologies to do with genes.

• Scientists are not allowed to do whatever research they wish to do, Parliament have to change the laws from time to time.

• The government have set up groups of people to decide which cases are within the law.

Key Words

My Key Words

• DNA~ The chemical that makes up chromosomes. DNA carries the genetic code, which controlls how an organisms develop.
  
  
• Gene Therapy~ Replacing faulty alleles with normal alleles. Aim: to cure genetic disorders.

• Genetic Modification~ Alterneting the characteristics of an organism by introducing the genes of another organism into its DNA.

• Genetic Screening~ Thesting the whole population for a particular allele.

• Enzymes~ Proteins to speed up chemical reactions in the body.

• Structural Proteins~ Proteins to build up the body.

Gene Therapy

Finding a new treatment for CF (Cystic Fibrosis).

• The cell nuclei of CF patients contain two faulty alleles, so one of the proteins that the cell makes is faulty.

• Scientists have been developing a new treatment for CF. They plan to put copies of the normal allele into the cells of the CF sufferers, this is called gene therapy.

• The final step which is called genetic modification, was a difficult process.

• Scientists in the mid-1990s did trials on humans.

• They trapped alleles in fat droplets and then used nose sprays, to get the in the air passages.

• If they had been successful some of the symptoms of CF should disappear.

• Some of the patients improved a little.

• However, the improvements did not last.

• This is because cells lining the lungs die and are replaced all the time.

• The new cells only contain the patients original alleles.

• Some scientists are still continuing their research, but in some countries gene therapy trials have been banned.

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Genetic Screening

• If we were to test the whole population for one particular inherited disorder, it would be called genetic screening.
• The decision about whether to go ahead with genetic screening or not is taken by the government and local NHS trusts.
• The NHS have to think about different things when they decide if genetic screening should be used:

They think about:

• What are the costs of testing everyone for the inherited disorder?
• What are the benefits of testing everyone?
• Is it better to spend the money on other medical treatments?

I think that only people who know that an inherited disorder runs in their family should have the test. However if a person really want's the test but have no known case of that particular inherited disorder should be allowed to have the test, but they should go on a waiting list and have to pay to have the test.

How reliable are these tests?

• These genetic tests are not completely reliable.

• Tests for detecting Cystic Fibrosis (CF) are only around 90% accurate.

• We do not yet have a cure for many inherited diseases, such as; Huntington's disorder, Cystic Fibrosis, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

• Only in a few cases will a genetic test not detect one of these inherited conditions, these are called False negative and False positive test results.

• False negative are tests results, that tell a person that they do not have a particular disorder when actually they do.

• False positive are tests results that tell a person they have a genetic disorder when really they don't. This type of test result is not a common as the other result.

About Genetic Testing

• Genetic tests are used to look for faulty alleles in our genes, that cause genetic disorders.

• If you are having a child and you know of a genetic disorder rund in the family, you can have one of these test to see if you child wiil have that inherited disorder.

Chromosomes

• Chromosomes are made of a chemical called DNA. Most kinds of living organisms use DNA to make their chromosomes.

• A fertilized egg cell contains the instructions for making proteins in a human.

• Proteins are important chemicals for cells, there are many different types of proteins in our bodies.

• Enzymes~ build the body.

• Structural proteins~ speed up chemical reactions in the body.

About DNA

DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid.

• We have inherited genetic information from our parents.

• We have some features in common, the diferences may only be small but we are interested in them because they make us unique.

• Most of your genes are effected by the genes that you inheried from your parents, however, your environment can also effect how you develop. I.e. if you spend more time in the sun, the darker you skin will get.

• Genetic Testing is use to look for faulty alleles in our genes.
  You can have a genetic test if you know a genetic disorder runs in the family.
  There have been small studies into what woul be the out come, if we tested the whole population for the same faulty gene or allele.