GENETICS AND MAN

GROUP 4
GENETICS
 Genetics is the science of the way traits are
passed from parent to offspring.

 Itcan be as simple as eye color, height, hair

color, nails, gaits etc.

 Itcan also extend to whether you will be

prone to diseases like heart disease, breast
cancer etc.

 Defects in the genetic code can be tragic.

HISTORY OF GENETICS
 1865: Gregor Mendel (an Australian monk ) published
his groundbreaking work on inheritance in pea plants,
establishing the fundamental laws of genetics.

 Early 1900s: Scientists begun to understand the

physical basis of heredity including the fact that they
carry genetic information.

 1944: Oswald Avery, Collin MacLeod and Maclyn

McCarty demonstrate that DNA is the substance that
carries genetic information, providing a crucial
breakthrough in understanding the molecular basis of
genetics.
CONT’D
 1953:James Watson and Francis Crick
proposed the structure of DNA, providing a
model for how genetic information was
stored and transmitted.

 Late
1900s: Advances in genetic
technologies, such as genes sequencing and
genetic engineering, revolutionize the field of
genetics and led to new understandings of
genetic disorders and diseases.
CHROMOSOMES, GENES AND DNA
CHROMOSOMES
 A threadlike structure found in the nucleus of most living

cells.

 They are made of nucleic acids and proteins.

 They carry genetic information from cell to cell.

 Every individual inherits 23 chromosomes from the

mother and 23 from the father.

 Together they form 22 pairs of chromosomes

(autosomes) with a total of 46 chromosomes.
CONT’D
 Itcan be also called a sex chromosome
(either XX when female for XY when male)
GENES
 A gene is made up of short sections of DNA which
are contained on a chromosome.

 All human cells hold approximately 30,000 different

genes.

 Most genes are the same in all people, but a small

number of genes (less than 1 percent of the total)
are slightly different between people.

 These small differences contribute to each person’s

unique physical features.
DNA and RNA
DNA
 DNA is macromolecule made up of a double-stranded

helix.

 A single strand of DNA contains a mix of purine

(adenine(A) and guanine(G)) and pyrimidine ( thymine (T)
and cytosine (C)).

 Two single strands pair to each other a by weak hydrogen

bonds between purine-pyrimidine base pairs.

 i.e ( Adenine (A) paired with thymine (T), and guanine (G)
paired with cytosine (C))
RNA
 Is a type of nucleic acid that plays a crucial
role in protein synthesis and gene
expression.
 NITROGENOUS BASES FOUND IN RNA
 Adenine(A),Guanine(G),Cytosine(C) and

Uracil(U).

 TYPESS OF RNA
 Messenger RNA ,Transfer RNA and Ribosomal

RNA.
HUMAN GENOME
 The human genome is the complete set of genetic
instructions encoded in the DNA of humans.
 It contains all genes and non – coding DNA that
makes up an individual’s genetic code.
 Consists of about 3 billion base pairs of DNA

 The human genome has many applications in

medicine and research. For example, it can be used
to identify genetic variants associated with disease
risk to develop targeted therapies for genetic
disorders and to study the evolutionary history of
humans and other organisms.