Do Blog on Third Chromosome
In Chapter 3 of Genome Matt Ridley talks about the history of the third chromosome of the human body. Chromosome three happens to have a "paragraph of DNA letters that shares 52% of its letters with the fungal gene : homogentisate." This boring gene was found after modern genetics had begun, around 1960's. When scientists had discovered the rare yet not deadly disease, Alkaptonuria it had laid untouched for many years. Yet during the 1990's two Spaniards decided to take a closer look on this disease which led tho their discovery that the mutant had "a defective version of the protein called homogentisate dioxygenase." The similar humane gene that they found was on the arm of chromosome three. Matt Ridley describes this chromosome as "the epitome of a boring gene, causing a boring disease when broken" Yet I disagree with him. I believe this chromosome is unique because unlike the other chromosomes in the human body, this chromosome does not cause a malfunction in the body while other chromosomes do. For example, even if its lettering somehow got mixed up in order it will not cause the death of a person and the gene is shared by every animal in this world. It follows the law of dominance. Maybe chromosome number three might not be as fancy as chromosome one and two, yet it is still part of us and does the same job for every creature in this world.
No comments:
Post a Comment