Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: history
Recent Uses of DNA Technology
DNA, Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is the basic structure for all life, it is the blueprint, the instruction manual, on how to build a living organism. DNA is made up of four nitrogen bases, adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine which are connected by sugar-phosphate bonds. Through a process called Protein Synthesis, the nitrogen bases are the code for the creation of amino acids. Essentially, DNA makes amino acids, amino acids make proteins, proteins make organisms. This process has been taking place for much longer than scientists have been able to document. Those scientists are called geneticists and their field is genetics.
Genetics and the study of heredity began with Gregor Mendel, a monk that experimented with peas to show the passing of traits from “parent” to “child.” About 40 years later Thomas Hunt Morgan discovered the gene itself using fruit flies. This began the search for DNA, which was concluded in 1944 by Oswald Avery, Colin McLeod and Maclyn McCarty when they proved DNA was genetic material. Their discovery kicked-off the beginning of the DNA era in which all scientists were scrambling to find out more about this mysterious microscopic molecule. In addition, during this time the Human Genome Project was started. The project was dedicated to finding, identifying and sequencing DNA. The purpose, as listed by the United Stated Department of Energy Office of Science, was to identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA, determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, improve tools for data analysis, transfer related technologies to the private sector, and address the ethical, legal, and social issu...
... middle of paper ...
...rath. Vol. 1. Farmington Hills: Gale Group, 2002. 2 vols.
Newton, Giles. Discovering DNA Fingerprinting. 2 April 2004. 12 February 2010 .
Rothstein, Mark A. Pharmacogenomics: Social, Ethical, and Clinical Dimensions. Ed. Mark A. Rothstein. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.
Science, U.S. Department of Energy Office of. Human Genome Project information-Pharmocogenomics. 19 September 2008. 12 February 2010 .
Science, US Department of Energy Office of. Human Genome Poject Information. 12 August 2009. 21 February 2010 .
Witherly, Jeffre L. An A to Z of DNA Science What Scientists Mean When They Talk about Genes and Genomes. Ed. Patricia Baker. Cold Spring Harbor: Cold Spring Harbor Press, 2001.
No one knew how heredity (passing traits) worked until Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, crossbred pea plants in his monastery kitchen garden in 1865. In 1869, gene-hunters found rod-like shape in the nucleus of cells that turned red when dye was added. They named this “Chromosome”, from a Greek word, chroma for color. They also went deeper into the cell and discovered a wispy microscopic thread within the chromosomes, which they named DNA. There were several scientists who did not know about Mendel’s breakthrough at the time, but then in 1900, they rediscovered his experiment and old journal copies.
Wonder of DNA. Design(er) Conference. Answers in Genesis, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014
Easteal, McCleod, and Reed. DNA Profiling: Principles, Pitfalls and Potential. Switzerland: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1991.
"Epigenomics Fact Sheet." National Human Genome Research Institute. N.p., 7 May 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2014. .
The ENCODE Project Consortium. "An integrated encyclopedia of DNA elements in the human genome." Nature 489.11247 (2012): 57-74.
Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA) is a chromosome found in the nucleus of a cell, which is a double-stranded helix (similar to a twisted ladder). DNA is made up of four bases called adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C), that is always based in pairs of A with T and G with C. The four bases of A, C, G, and T were discovered by Phoebus Levene in 1929, which linked it to the string of nucleotide units through phosphate-sugar-base (groups). As mention in Ananya Mandal research paper, Levene thought the chain connection with the bases is repeated in a fix order that make up the DNA molecu...
The debate over the importance of a Human Genome Project can be cleared up by looking at what the human genome actually is, and why knowing its DNA sequence can be beneficial to the scientific and the human community. The human genome is made up of about three billion base pairs, which contain about 100,000 genes. The 100,000 genes in the 46 human chromosomes only account for a small total of the DNA in our genome. Approximately 10 percent of our DNA make up these genes in our genome, these genes are what is actually encoded for and used by our body to make vital proteins needed for everyday life. The remaining 90 percent of our three billion base pairs are repeated sequences between genes that do not encode for any particular product. These repeated sequences account for the reason why 99 percent of any humans DNA is identical to another human's (1). With this knowledge many people believe it is not worth the time or money to sequence the entire human genome when only a small percent is used to encode for proteins. However, by sequencing the whole genome researchers will no longer have to do a needle in the haystack type of search for small genes, like the one found on chromosome four that is responsible for Huntington's disease (4). Also, knowing the complete human DNA sequence will allow scientists to determine the role and importance of the repeated DNA, non-protein encoding, sequences in our body.
DNA testing has been the center of attention in many criminal justice cases. The United States corrections centers have utilized the DNA testing process. Seventeen death row inmates have been exonerated by the use of these tests. Earl Washington was convicted of rape and murder in 1984. Although he confessed to the rape, he was also diagnosed as being mentally retarded. In October of 2000 Mr., Washington was given a DNA test and was excluded as the rapist and murderer. The Virginia Governor pardoned Mr. Washington after he had served 16 years in prison with 14 of them being on death row (ACLU, 2011). DNA testing has become the rule rather than the exception; but what happens with the DNA after a person has been acquitted, dismissed, or exonerated. Where does DNA go to die or does it? Is the DNA destroyed, or is it retained in miscellaneous databanks for further retrieval and use? In 2010, the United States Congress began a campaign designed to encourage the states to require DNA to be taken from suspects whether they had been charged with a crime or not. In the case of S. and Marper v the United Kingdom found that the retention of the applicants' fingerprints, cellular samples and DNA profiles was in violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Is creating a policy in the United States that demand DNA from suspects helps in finding subsequent criminals or is it just leading to a track and trace policy?
About fifteen years ago at a conference near Salt Lake City, the Department of Energy brought up a question that would change the face of science, more specifically molecular genetics. They questioned why there was no DNA research on the way mutations are detected and they decided to change that. Thus, the Human Genome Project was born. Actually there was a lot more planning to do before the work began, ranging from the technical aspects to developing a separate commission dealing with the ethical issues. Eight years after officially starting the project, the public is in awe of what has been accomplished. The projected goal is to have an accurate, complete sequence of human DNA by the year 2003, two years sooner than previously expected (Collins, 1998). The reason for the project is on schedule is that innovative techniques are being applied in DNA sequencing that are more cost effective as well as more efficient.
...hich inherited traits, such as those for genetic disease, can be tracked over generations. Throughout out the course of human development, scientists will continue to find new new ways to help the human race through the discovery of the human gene inside of each of us, its uses, as well as complications, that can help the survival of our species.
National Human Genome Research Institute. (2011). Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). In Fact Sheets. Retrieved from http://www.genome.gov/25520880
An organism’s complete set of nuclear DNA is its genomes. The function of DNA is hereditary instructions determining the sequence of amino acids and making up
Ridley, M. (1999). Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. New York: HarperCollins.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a self-replicating molecule or material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent in chromosomes. It encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses. Simply put, DNA contains the instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive and reproduce. The discovery and use of DNA has seen many changes and made great progress over many years. James Watson was a pioneer molecular biologist who is credited, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, with discovering the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. The three won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962 for their work (Bagley, 2013). Scientist use the term “double helix” to describe DNA’s winding, two-stranded chemical structure. This shape looks much like a twisted ladder and gives the DNA the power to pass along biological instructions with great precision.
Ward, Gerry. "Genomics Blog." Genome Alberta. Genome Alberta, 20 June 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.