What has been the significance of DNA to the field of biology and medical research?
The discovery of DNA has provided the field of Biomedical Science with tremendous research and technical advancement.
DNA consists of two polynucleotide chains that are composed of four nucleotides, adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), or thymine (T). Hydrogen bonds between the base portions of the chains. The structure of DNA was proposed in 1953 by James Watson and Francis Crick with collaboration by Rosalind Franklin through X-Ray Crystallography. In 1958 Francis Crick proposed the process of central dogma, which is the process of DNA being transcribed into RNA (mRNA) by specific RNA polymerase enzymes, to which is translated into protein in the ribosomes. This branched out to start a new field of biology – molecular biology, this deals with the structure and function of proteins, genes and nucleic acid. In recent times the Human Genome Project (HGP) was conducted to determine the nucleotide base pairs that make up human DNA. The HGP led to advances in modern medicine, aiding scientists in the discovery of disease genes. Biotechnology is an emerging scientific field involved with living organisms and biological systems, this area has had an influence on medicine, agriculture and all fields of modern science.
central dogma of molecular biology was first stated in 1958 and re-stated in 1970 by Francis Crick. The central dogma annotates the way in which a gene is translated into its functional protein. It is split into two intrinsic processes known as transcription and translation. Transcription is initiated by catalytic enzymes known as RNA polymerases to which they read out and create a complementary transcript known as messenger RNA (mRNA), the process of transcription occurs in the nucleus of every cell. The mRNA then travels put of the nucleus and into the cytoplasm of the cell to which it travels into the ribosomes. The next step of the central dogma and the process of creating a functional gene into a protein is known as translation. In the ribosomes the mRNA is loaded and each triplet nucleotide known as codons are read into their specific amino acid by charged transfer RNAs (tRNAs), the process is initiated by the codon AUG on the mRNA known as the start codon which encodes the amino acid methionine, each codon thereafter is read and the polypeptide chain is enlarged into a protein structure, the process continues until a STOP codon is read and the reaction is terminated and a functional protein is created.
The Human genome is the complete set of a human’s DNA, it contains approximately 3 billion base pairs of DNA that reside in 23 different chromosomes within the nucleus of every single human cell. Each chromosome contains thousands of genes which command the cells on how to create protein. Each of the estimated 30,000 genes in the human genome Produces an average of 3 proteins. The sequencing of the base pairs is important to a human for a number of reasons including, Uniqueness, personality, athletic ability and intellect. Human chromosomes range in size from about 50,000,000 to 300,000,000 base pairs. The sequencing of the base pairs also creates genetic disease that can be passed down to offspring. These diseases are hereditary and are the result of a fault in sequencing. The Human Genome is 99% sequenced, although small gaps remain resulting in the left over 1% of the euchromatin being unexplored. New technology must be invented to explore the sequencing of this region.
Biotechnology is a new and emerging field of science that deals with the human genome and the process of protein synthesis. It involves genetically modifying the genome to produce things it could never have previously produced, this means that for diseases that can be inherited, scientists can now target these issues to better deal with them and in turn – cure them. The technology of recombinant DNA has been made possible in part by extensive research on microorganisms during the last century. Gene defects in humans can lead to deficiency’s in proteins that can then in turn lead to conditions like, dwarfism, diabetes and impaired blood clotting. Missing proteins can now be replaced by proteins manufactured through biotechnology. For insulin production in diabetics, two protein chains are encoded by separate genes in plasmids that then get inserted into the patient. The protein chains are then chemically joined to form the finished product.
This, in summary is a very basic overview of the highly sophisticated and detailed process of the central dogma and the fundamental process that underpins the field of molecular biology, the (HGP) and biotechnology/genetic engineering. Central dogma is critical in maintaining a functional cell, disease may lead when this genetic code is miss read either by genetic mutations in the DNA or RNA which are caused by polymerase reading errors or environmental toxins. Genetic diseases inherited to individuals are caused by these mutations in the DNA which lead to the translation of dysfunctional proteins as seen in diseases as cystic fibrosis, muscle dysmorphia, Down syndrome and some cancers. New technologies such as DNA sequencing have enabled parents, doctors and geneticist to study and research such diseases and predict the future likelihood of a particular person’s offspring to inherit such disabilities.
A standout amongst the most aggressive logical undertakings of the twentieth century was the effort to sequence the nitrogenous bases in the human genome. Beginning in 1990 and finished in 2003, the effort encompassed 13 years of work at an expense of around $3 billion. Knowing the content of the human genome is helping scientists devise new diagnostics and medications for genetic diseases and will likewise be of value to developmental biologists, evolutionary biologists, and comparative biologists. The Human Genome Project is one of huge greatness that will affect numerous parts of science for quite a long time to come. The undertaking remains the most noteworthy accomplishment of DNA research in the twentieth century and the bedrock for research in the twenty-first.