Genetics Beyond The Laboratory
	By Aaron Nazarian Where in everyday life does genetics play a role? The Doctor's Office and Pharmacy Business and Careers Law and Law Enforcement Physical Appearances Behavior Food What role does our genetics play in creating life? Where in everyday life does genetics play a role? Most of our knowledge about genetics is discovered in science research laboratories around the world. It is in these labs that the human genome is being mapped and sequenced and new genes are being discovered. However, genetics relates to much more than just scientists working at a lab bench; the reach of genetics is far greater than research in a lab. Genetics is a science that influences who we are as human beings and dictates how we function. Genetics plays a major role in our lives, and it is an element of everyday life that can be found in many unexpected places. The Doctor's Office and Pharmacy When we pay a visit to our doctor, our genes are often involved with the diagnosis or treatment we receive. For example, the influence of genetics is obvious when genetic testing is given to a person to diagnose that person for a certain disease. If a person has a specific disease, it is highly likely that the disease is influenced by his or her genetics. In other words, the person may have damaged genes that cause certain proteins to be lacking or nonfunctional, thus making the person predisposed to the disease. This protein deficiency (because of damaged DNA) is what causes a genetic disease. Through genetic testing, the doctor can find the gene involved with that genetic disease. A less obvious example of genetics in the doctor's office can be seen when a doctor performs a blood test on a patient who is sick with a cold or virus. Some blood tests will not only find a person's blood type but also check the levels of certain important proteins in the blood. Many people are unaware that blood type is actually determined by our genetic code. Similarly, the proteins our body produces are all encoded in our DNA as well. So, because our genes determine which proteins will be produced in our bodies, our genes also control what the results will show in our blood test. Every time a doctor prescribes medicine to a patient the patient must go to a pharmacy to get the prescribed drugs. Today, many drugs are available to treat a wide range of medical problems from allergies to AIDS. Different medicines work in different ways to treat our bodies, but some actually work with the DNA in our cells to cure us. Some medicines can bind to DNA and aid in expression or inhibition of genes that may be related to our ailments. Moreover, many drug treatments are created using genetic information. The study of pharmaceuticals and genetics is called Pharmacogenomics. Business and Careers Business is usually not the first word that comes to mind when a person thinks of genetics. However, genetics is playing an increasing role in the business sector. With the sources of genetic information growing exponentially, numerous growing businesses are focusing on the field of genetics and the use of genetic information. Such businesses include genomic companies, pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies that develop and manufacture drugs, genetically modified foods, and biochips. Computer companies and equipment manufacturers are also entering the genetics game by developing technologies for studying genetics. A biotechnology company will generally use genetics to find proteins and molecules (rather than chemicals traditionally used in medicine) to cure and diagnose diseases. One biotechnology company stock analyst stated that there are presently only 15 profitable biotech companies, but that there will be more than 55 within the next three years, indicating that we are still in the early stages of development in the biotechnology industry. Beyond the science of genetics, the business of genetics promises much growth and many career opportunities to come. Law and Law Enforcement As genetic knowledge increases, the fields of genetics and law have been increasingly correlated. Forensic science is one such correlation, in which DNA is tested and studied for crime- and law-related purposes. However, the first and foremost legal need is the enactment of laws and legislation that will regulate the proper use of genetic information and make sure that the information is being used morally and ethically. Another area of law that relates to genetics has to do with protecting scientists' findings. As the amount of genetic information continues to grow, patenting for this newly discovered scientific data will also grow. However, patenting or ownership of genetic information again raises ethical and moral issues that need to be addressed. This includes creating laws to prevent genetic discrimination. Genetics is also often used in the courtroom as evidence to establish paternity or maternity. For example, during child custody cases in which a person claims that a child belongs to him or her, an analysis of the child's and the client's DNA will prove whether or not the two are biologically related. Further, law enforcement agencies use DNA fingerprinting as a tool in solving murder and rape cases. DNA fingerprinting can link suspects to crime scenes or exonerate the wrongfully accused from guilty verdicts. A suspect's DNA compatibility to any DNA found in blood or hair at a crime scene can help prove whether or not that suspect was present. In some cases, suspected criminals have narrowly escaped mistaken death sentences when last minute DNA fingerprinting analysis showed that they were not present at a murder scene. Physical Appearances Physical appearance is determined in part by our genes. Genetics plays a key role in determining many aspects of how people look. From eye color, to hair color (or the tendency for baldness), to skin color, and even to the number of fingers on each hand, nearly everything in our physical appearance has certain genes associated with them. Recently scientists have even found genes associated to obesity. A number of genes seem to have the capacity to cause obesity or increase the likelihood of becoming obese. This means that whether a person is overweight or not may be determined in part by their genes and not only by what they eat. This newfound knowledge of °∞obesity genes°± may one day help aid obese people in losing weight. Similarly, genetics also explains why siblings and their parents look alike. A person acquires half of his or her genes from the mother and half from the father. By combining these genes, that person will share the same genetic information as his or her parents. Therefore, that person will also share some physical characteristics of both parents. For example, a couple with dark skin, dark hair and brown eyes is highly unlikely to have a child with light skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Behavior A person's physical appearance is partly determined by genetic factors. Does this mean that it is also possible for our genes to determine in part a person's behaviors? Is it possible that our genes determine what our behaviors will be like from the day we are born? Is there a gene for being nice or stubborn, or a gene that will determine whether a person is outgoing or shy? These are difficult questions to answer and most of these questions have yet to be answered. Human behaviors are commonly thought of as actions that our brains learn and remember. For example, if a person touches a hot stove and burns his/her hand, that person will learn that hot stoves burn and will remember not to touch a hot stove again. However, the range of human behavior is great, and it is quite likely that not all behaviors are learned. Scientists today are applying the concepts and tools of behavioral genetics to such diverse areas as aging, alcohol abuse and addiction, cognitive development, drug abuse and addiction, learning disabilities, neurological diseases, nicotine tolerance and withdrawal, personality/temperament, and psychopathology. At this point in time, we probably have more questions than answers, but we continue to study the influence of genetics on individual differences in behavior. Food While walking through your local market, have you ever noticed the rows of big, firm, juicy apples that are all almost identical, or the perfectly round oranges? For thousands of years farmers have been manipulating agriculture to get the best crops and best breeds of cattle. They have done this by picking the best crops or cattle and allowing only these agriculturally advantageous ones to reproduce. Crops have been bred to improve yields, enhance taste and extend the growing season. Our era of genetic consciousness has made this modification quicker and easier. Modifying the genes of the crops and harvesting those genetically engineered crops can also create the best crops. Genetically engineered food may be best defined as edible products that have undergone an artificial manipulation of genes or injections of hormones in order to produce certain desirable characteristics in the food product. It is nearly impossible to tell if a food product has been genetically engineered just by looking at it. Many people are increasingly concerned with the safety of genetically modified foods, and studies regarding these concerns continue. Most of the studies indicate that genetically modified foods are safe for human consumption. The impact of genetically modified foods on the industry and society is a powerful example of how genetics plays a role in our daily lives. What role does our genetics play in creating life? Genetics plays one of the largest roles in creating life. The human body is formed from over 100 trillion cells. These cells contain the human genome with all the biological instructions for producing a human being. Written in the long sequences of approximately 3.2 billion base pairs is the full DNA code for creating life. This genetic material is found in the form of chromosomes in the nucleus of the cell. Every human has 23 pairs of chromosomes-they get one half of each pair from each parent, for a total of 46 chromosomes. The genes in the DNA each code for proteins that are used to help the cells grow, reproduce and specialize into different types of cells. Each cell is created individually and replicates itself. All of these different types of cells form different types of tissues and organs (such as blood, muscle, bone, and other organs), and together, this amazing set of cells and proteins results in the development of a human body. This process is similar for almost all multicellular organisms. Sources- http://ibgwww.colorado.edu/, http://www.obesity.chair.ulaval.ca/Genes.html, http://salarjung.embnet.org.in/, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/sci_tech/2000/human_genome/stage_6.stm, http://www.yahoo.com, http://www.biotechbasics.com, http://www.atp.nist.gov, http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/turf/figstabs/08fig.gif, http://lmgdd.ibmh.msk.su/lab/links-sci.htm, http://vhs.concord.org