Gene

The ethics of gene manipulation proposes a rather complex debate because of opposing religious/individual takes on this issue. My position on this issue is “in-between” because this could be a fantastic advancement at rescuing a family from a harmful genetic disease passing on and advances in genetic engineering have and still could enable an abundance of people with infertility problems to start a family. Although, the negative impacts of gene manipulation remain vital, it violates a child’s…

Throughout the engaging and thought-provoking scientific research publication of Living with Our Genes by Dean Hammer and Peter Copeland, the main concept explored is concerned with the idea of the environment or genetic make-up being the deciding factors in each and every individual’s personality. A concept such as genetic makeup, seems to be the definitive and decisive factor in the eight specified sub-topics explored throughout book, which are thrills, worry, anger, addiction, sex, thinking,…

DNA in the hopes of eradicating genetic disorders, every individual is going to have a different opinion on the matter. This idea is observed in the two articles; “Gene Therapy: Human Germline Genetic Modifications– Assessing the Scientific, Socio-ethical and Religious Issues” by Qiana Matthews, PhD and David Curiel, MD, PhD and “Gene Therapy: Theoretical and Bioethics Concepts” written by Kevin Smith, PhD. Matthews and Curiel’s article was published in the Southern Medical Journal in 2007,…

or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use (United Nations, 2012). Will the application of biotechnology in gene therapy be the solution for people that suffer from Chronic Granulomatous Disease? Chronic Granulomatous Disease is a diverse group of hereditary diseases in which there is a mutation in a single gene that encodes for the production of sub-units of the enzyme NADPH oxidase. This molecule stimulates the body's ability to fight off invading…

Gene therapy is a technique in genetic engineering that is used to introduce new genetic material into host cells. This technique has become an invaluable tool in correcting faulty genes in order to improve the overall health of patients affected by both genetic disorders and non-genetic diseases. It has been documented that most human diseases occur as a result of a mutation in a single gene or a set of genes that code for important proteins needed for survival (1). Some of the genetic and…

Gene editing has long been held out as a potential panacea for all human genetic disorders. Beyond human disease, it holds potential for producing disease free and larger plants and animals. Alternatively, resistance to herbicides can be edited into a plants genome or genes to increase drought tolerance. Furthermore, slight tweaks to the genome can produce crops that will be more desirable to consumers and thus enable their producers to earn more money. If the small change is only the removal of…

Gene traps are the plasmid or retrovirus-based vectors having a reporter gene that is only expressed when integrated in a functional gene. They were originally developed for the study of insertional mutagenesis in mouse. The gene traps were used to identify and characterize genes which were regulated by exogenous stimuli or during development process. The gene trap is a process which makes it possible to identify genes that gives rise to phenotypic effects when they are switched off, and also…

The article “Tweak in Gene Expression May Have Helped Humans Walk Upright” found on Science Daily discusses work conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. These researchers have been able to distinguish what gave us humans the ability to walk upright through research conducted on the fish threespine stickleback. The fish has evolved multiple times over time in order to match different environments around the world.…

organism’s mother’s genes, and half of its father’s genes – or in some cases all of its mother’s gene, like a clone – is even more complex than previously thought before. There is this new, and interesting concept that alters gene expression as they live. This new concept, called epigenetics, is what makes even identical twins, genetically different. Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression, without changing the DNA of the organism.…

My Genes Our bodies are made up of twenty-three chromosomes from each parent. My parents gave me plenty of traits, both dominant and recessive. I’m more like my mother than my father, if many ways considering how I act, act and see the world. My father gives more of the recessive genes, rather than dominant. These genes in which I received are the true nature of who I am, inside and out. With these chromosomes I am a balance between them both. Considering the genes, I turned out almost…