Decoding Life's Digital Blueprint (@1)
Before diving into intricacies of the gene concept. It is essential to lay the groundwork by exploring other few fundamental concepts. Lets begin by understanding what a cell is and how cell division takes place. We will also unravel the roles of DNA within cells and how it fits into this intricate equation.
Life begins with a single cell. Its like a tiny little cell containg all the informations and instructions needed to create a living beings. The instructions here is also known as DNA( Deoxyribonucleic Acid). Think of it as an ‘Instruction Manual’ for cell as it carries genetic information and instruction for the growth, development, functioning and the reproduction.
As the initial cell grows and matures, it undergoes a process known as cell division, which involves splitting to generate additional cells. Prior to the division, the cell duplicates its DNA exactly. Consequently, each newly formed cell possesses its individual set of instructions. This analogy resembles splitting a group of students (with a manual detailing how to complete a task) into two new groups, while providing each new group with a duplicated version of the original manual.
These newly generated cell has full set of DNA instruction. However, not all the instructions in DNA are used by every cell. Different cells use different parts of DNA to perform their specific functions and tasks. For instance, skin cells use specific parts of DNA to create proteins that contribute to skin structure and protection, while nerve cells uses different DNA segments to produce neurotransmitters for transmitting signals between cells.
Getting Familiar with the Terms: Genes, DNA and Central Dogma
Gene & Genome
As mentioned earlier, DNA is an instruction manual for cells and the entire set of DNA sequence of an organism’s cell which contains all the hereditary informations is known as Genome. For instance, In humans, the genome is the complete sequence of DNA in our 46 chromosomes (23 pairs) found in a nucleus of each cell and over 3 billions base pairs. Genomes can vary in size and structure, just like manual can have different number of pages and chapters. In some cells, DNA is wrapped around proteins (histones) to create high-order structures and these structures are called nucleosomes and chromosomes, help organize the DNA.
Another intriguing fact about genomes: Scientists use special technology to read the DNA instructions in the genome. This gives them small piece of the genetic code, like taking snapshots of pages from the instruction manual. Then they piece these pictures together to get a full picture of the genome.
Gene is a specific segment of DNA that contains the instructions for making particular protein or performing specific function within an organism. Think of a gene as a distinct chapter of instruction manual. Genes determine various characteristics of an organism, such as its physical feature, behavior and all. The control and activation of genes play a vital role in determining every aspect of an organism’s identity, development, responses to the environment and overall behaviour. For example, a liver cell is determined by the unique combination of genes that are tuned on and active within that cell. and when certain genes are activated, they produce the functional molecules needed for that cell to carry its specialized tasks, such as detoxifying substances or producing enzymes for digestion in case of liver cell.
The Central Dogma
As we know all cells have a set of instructions for how they should work. These set of instructions is stored on molecule called DNA. Inorder to create a new cell, cell need to make a copies of this instructions.
These instructions in DNA are organized into units called gene, assume gene as a unit of that instruction manual mentioned earlier. When a cell needs to use a particular gene, it activates it. When a gene is activated, it creates a temporary copy of the gene’s instructions in a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) and mRNA molecule then travels to the cytoplasm. Here, ribosomes read the mRNA and follow its instructions to put together the amino acids in the right order.This results in the creation of a specific protein.
For the clear understanding:
Genome, Gene, and Central Dogma
This whole process of going from DNA to mRNA to protein is like the central dogma of molecular biology. It’s a way cell transfer information from DNA to proteins. Proteins are like the key ingredients. They do everything in the cell, from building structure to carring out chemical reactions.