The Mystery of The DNA.
The DNA or Deoxyribonucleic
Acid is something many of us have heard of though few really understand. For
that matter, I am writing this to remedy that. Here are some basics:
1) It is found in the nucleus of a cell, so
that means a human being who is a multi-cellular being, you have it in nearly
every cell, so do plants and animals and uni-cellular beings like bacteria and
every other living thing with the exception of some viruses.
To best understand
it, let us story tell: imagine you are walking down a winding road, as you
complete a curve you see a big beautiful mansion. It’s startlingly white. You
walk up to the big mahogany door and push. It swings in smoothly, as if it
weighs nothing. Inside is a big table with all kinds of appliances. Everything
is a tool for making something, but two things immediately draw your attention.
A big glass container with a bright green liquid and a massive book with a glossy black
cover that is as smooth as fur. When you open it you are surprised to
see that it is in good clear English with gold calligraphic letters. The book
has 46 chapters and is divided into 20,000 sections. In each section there are
directions on how to build something and in addition there is more than one
option on how to build that thing. For example step 1, options a, b ,c… step 2,
option a, b, c…., and so on. Excitedly you get to work. The orders are clear
and precise, what should be mixed with what, and all the other ways you can do
it. All you require is right there in your reach. So you follow them all step by
step, choosing options randomly. If on step 1 you chose a, on step 2 you choose
h and step 3, r and so on. When you are done, you are requested to put what you
have built in the glass container, and wait for a few minutes. The surprising
thing is that after all the work you have done; you have tackled only a small
part of the book. Suddenly the color changes and out of the container comes -
well anything.
The point of the
story is not what you create but how you create it, so pay attention here. That
big beautiful book is your cell nucleus and that well written and eligible
message in gold letters is your DNA. That means DNA is simply information. It
contains orders on how to build everything that is you. This includes hair type
and color, skin color, eye color and so on.
The DNA is a double helix strand that is about 1.8m long (imagine a very
long ladder). It is tightly coiled up to make it small so as to fit in your
cell nucleus. This coiled version is called a chromosome. There are 46
chromosomes in every human cell, apart from the gamete cells (sperm and ova).
Which have 23 chromosomes each, which add up upon fertilization to make 46.
There are a few other cells that do not have a nucleus therefore no DNA, other
than those every other cell is carrying your genetic blueprint (there are about
3 trillion cells in your body). The entire DNA is divided into 20,000 genes. A
gene is that part of the DNA that deals with a specific thing e.g. eye color,
skin color and so on. Just imagine a section in a book that is explaining how
to build a specific thing, but you are given many different ways on how to
build it, that section in relation to the book is a gene. The info is carried on
a ladder like form (double helix structure) made up of four nitrogen bases that
is: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T). Imagine a ladder
standing on a wall, those steps (rudders) that you use to climb are the bases.
They are joined together in the middle, in other words for each rudder there
are two bases. That means if you are to divide the ladder right in the middle
that is top to bottom. The sequence of
the bases on one side of the ladder would be something like ATCGGCT and that is
how the info is stored. For example ATCGGCT can mean a light skin, while ATGCGCTA
a dark skin. This ladder form is how the DNA is capable of carrying a lot of
info. In addition just
like in a book if someone wrote a wrong recipe for something you are building.
Whatever you build will be faulty. So also is the DNA, all the problems we are
having today like cancer, some mental illnesses, most of the heart diseases can
be traced back to faulty DNA (information).
Today
we are having scientists (genetic engineers) who are perfecting gene splicing, a technique of removing unwanted genes from
the DNA. We are now facing questions like is it okay to open up the DNA and
‘erase’ that part that can lead to different sorts of illnesses in the future?
This is but a bull’s eye view of
this science. Today scientists can read it like a book, and they are capable of
erasing parts of DNA especially the faulty ones. We are now having questions
like is it okay to open up the DNA and ‘erase’ that part that can lead to
different sorts of illnesses in the future.? Shouldn’t it also be fine if a
parent decides that they want a specific eye color or skin color for their
children to do the same operation? What if I want my child to be smarter,
faster and the best looking person on this Earth? What is wrong with that?
If you are wondering whether this
is possible, yes it is. Today we are having scientists (genetic engineers) who
are perfecting that. Gene splicing is a technique of removing unwanted genes
from the DNA. In addition they can read human history from how our DNA has
mutated over the ages. That means they can find out who your grandparents were
10 centuries ago. It is especially on this that our present theory of evolution
is hinged. The fact that most DNA today shows that we all descend from similar
parents who once lived in Africa (East Africa to be exact). As it is commonly
said, if you go back far enough into the past you will find out that we are all
cousins.
All this shows the perfection of
creation, with the human standing at the apex of that class. If St. Thomas
Aquinas had known this, am sure he could have included it in his reasons to
support God’s existence. Such perfection cannot surely be all due to chance. If
indeed God exists, He is in the DNA.
Facts;
- · . Human Beings share 99% of DNA with other humans (only 0.1% differetiates us), 95% with baboons and 50% with a banana.
- · Ancient viruses that used to attack us now make up 8% of our DNA.
- · 2 grams of our DNA can carry all the information in our world today. 1gm can carry 700TBs.
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| A closer view of the strand clearly showing the ladder like structure of the strand. Each of those rudders are two bases joined together. |
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| A broader view of the view of a DNA strand. |
By.
Amanyire Daniel, MCCJ
