Genetics: The Mysterious Truth of One's Identity!!!!

We as human being thriving towards betterment have always felt proud of one selves of having a unique character reflecting on our identity. In olden days people started appreciating a distinct character in animals, plants and started to breed selectively to get an advanced offspring comparatively .Observing a character in a generation and comparing the resemblance with the parent generation is an age old idea and practice. It was John Gregory Mendel who scientifically mapped this practice and proposed that there are units which are parceled across the generation and are responsible for a particular character. Today they are termed as genes!!!Genes are the hereditary units of living organisms. The expression of a gene, dictates life and thus us. The systematic study which deals with the hereditary material and the resulting variation can be broadly categorized as genetics.

Identifying, tracking, Locating, Studying a gene takes almost a lifetime of dedicated people. Gene is made up of DNA(de oxy ribonucleic acid) and is a part of our genome. Genome is the entire stretch of information an organism derives from its parents and expresses through its existence. The complexity of genome is huge for example human genome contains more than 3.4 billion base pairs and between 20 000 and 25 000 genes. The entire bulk needs a systematic organization and we have chromosome for the purpose. Chromosomes and associated proteins hold DNA so that it does not get tangled up and favors orientation and expression of genes. All individuals in a species have the same set of genes. Individuals differ from each other because a gene can have several different forms, or alleles. Genes are inherited in pairs, one from the maternal parent and the other from the paternal parent. The interaction of these genes is responsible for a particular character.
Genes are not all which determine ones identity, Environment and the society have a huge impact!! Genes, organisms, and environments interact such that the ultimate results seems as if one is the cause and the other is the effect. At the level of the individual, genes do not act in a vacuum. For every situation posed by the environment genes react and get selected in the vast gene pool. The environment might be an external one or an internal one, genes act accordingly. For example growth is not determined by a single gene, there are genes which code for various growth hormones and whose interaction is responsible to determine a character, considering height over here. If one has attained his puberty during starvation conditions, its obvious that the gene expression is not at the maximum level and it has not expressed to its potential. Similarly there are few people in the society who eat heavily and still do not put on weight due to high metabolic rate they possess. Such individuals will have to face a negative consequence during drought as they will require more food for their survival.

Genes influence health and disease, as well as human traits and behavior Every gene codes a functional molecule namely protein. Protein interactions are responsible to carry out the function in a cell and thus influence us. This is how genetics follow...Earlier it used to be observation, later observation had turned into mathematical documentation where in Mendel recorded the data and paved the way to a spectacular world, followed by identification and isolation of the genetic material DNA, sequencing the genome, now the interest is in studying the interaction between the molecules and recording them. There are 3 main branches of genetics namely classical genetics, molecular genetics and population genetics. Study of classical genetics involves with study of phenotypic inheritance, Molecular genetics sheds light on genes and their behavior whereas population genetics provides insights regarding gene behavior at population and evolutionary level. Human genome project has sequenced the entire genome and has aided the world to find answers regarding the unique nature each one of us posses in intelligence, physical strength, disease either we inherit or which we are susceptible to and much more. Henceforth we can say the science which can unlock the mystery behind us is Genetics. Genetics has a vast association between conservation and evolution. We have been evolved and are evolving continuously and in the process the genes are also being conserved as a process of selection. The responsibility backing us is to minimize the harm we can cause to the next generation by practicing better cultured habits,since the conserved and evolved gene we contribute to the world matters!!!

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