Amazing life on earth = DNA | The Coffeehouse

jason818_253.33
Yippi skippy

I’m trying to get my head around some of these concepts.

Just how does DNA work to create different organisms based on the genetic code within?

How do the brilliant people go about finding out about DNA and all its intricacies when I have a challenging time just understanding it when it’s laid out before me?

When and by whom will the genetic human genome code be broken? It’s been said, that’s work that will take the next hundred years to decode. Is that something computers can speed up?

It’s been just the last ten years that we have now had the code for an entire human genome. Are there computers working on breaking the human genome code right now?

ZippyV
Fired Up

You know what would be cool? An application where you load a .dna file of a person and the application builds an accurate 3d model of that person.

jason818_253.33
Yippi skippy

In reply to ZippyV

#Feb 26th @ 11:49 AM

I think that is the idea. Basically. But not only would the program be able to build a 3d model. But you could also modify the .dna to create modifications of the organism/person. This is also the idea in real life, inject it into a cell and watch it grow. You could build genetically enhanced humans. Maybe even augment an existing humans DNA so they take out the gene that causes cancer or dare I say it… baldness. I just hope I live long enough to see it.

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

DNA doesn't "work" to do anything. DNA is just a chemical molecule.

DNA codes for proteins (or rather, more like a hdd drive, it just stores in the information needed to make those proteins). The DNA is then "read" by enzyme (just specialised proteins) that stick amino acids (organic chemicals with an amino group (NH2) on one end and a carboxylate group on the other (COOH)) together to form other chemicals.

DNA isn't perfect and so, at some point, the information doesn't get copied correctly (a mutation, it gets corrupted) and the proteins aren't made right. These changes to proteins will cause some kind of change in the organism, sometimes this is beneficial (e.g.. disease resistance) and sometimes not (e.g. cystic fibrosis) and, more often than not, both (e.g. sickle cell anaemia mutation provides resistance to malaria). Based on the pressures around at the time (e.g. is malaria a problem in your part of the world?) that mutation will either increase your chance of surviving (malarial areas) or decrease it (malaria free areas).

If there is reproductive isolation (behavioural/geographic) between two populations of the same species then, over time, these changes will lead to a level of difference where they cannot reproduce with each other to form fertile offspring. At this point we describe it as a new species (arbitrary marker really).

The guys I would put money on cracking it are http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/ (that site'll probably answer most of the rest of your questions).

And while I'm at it may I recommend the US Governement Department of Energy's excellent free poster (http://public.ornl.gov/hgmis/external/poster_request.cfm) (although delivery takes a while it was definately worth it just for my mother to ask me why I'd got a large envelope marked "US Government" through the post Tongue Out

).

Hope that answers your questions in an understandable way Smiley

jason818_253.33
Yippi skippy

In reply to GoddersUK

#Feb 26th @ 11:58 AM

Thanks GoddersUK. I signed up for my “free” poster. My US tax dollar at work. Smiley

Thanks for helping clarify some of my questions. It only leads me to more knowledge and more questions. In looking over the poster, How do they know what disease is caused by what Chromosome?

How does one use genomics to create energy?

magicalclick

In reply to jason818_253.33

#Feb 26th @ 12:36 PM

Mostly statistics I guess. You take the DNA sample of those patient and study the overlaping. Then, you can try reproduce the same disease as human as possible. What computer can do is only store all the data and help people identify the overlaping chromosome. Also we can use machine to idenify chromosone easier, but mostly it is just trail and error on statistics.

But, I don't think our data can be all that accurate. Just like coding, you break one part, but you can patch it on other part, and then you got bug on patch to other module. The fault/disease is an effect of all those combinations of patch and bugs. It is hard to pin point exact cause. Especially human DNA is not modulized as far as I am concern.

jason818_253.33
Yippi skippy

In reply to GoddersUK

#Feb 26th @ 11:58 AM

People living with sickle cell anemia are resilient to malaria, this allowing more of the sickle cell gene to be passed on. But sickle cell anemia causes a lower life expectancy. This is something new I learned from c9.

In the video above in the last demonstration it shows hemoglobin sticking together and becoming an elongated cell? But before it does so. Little blue things attach to the hemoglobin and then a little green thing pops out. What’s going on here?

its also just amazing to think that we have little machines in us reading code.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to jason818_253.33

#Feb 27th @ 3:55 PM

Hemogoblin is a protein that is commonly found in red blood cells. It's purpose is to store oxygen. (Oxygen is very reactive so it needs to be stored in something otherwise it will wreck havoc on the insides of your cells) I am assuming those blue things are oxygen molecules. In sickle cell disease, there is a mutation in the gene which describes hemoglobin. Even a small mutation can have very strong effects.

In sickle cell it has the ability to completely change the shape and structure of red blood cells. Since malaria parasite reproduce in red blood cells, the strange shape of the cell prohibits it from reproducing properly. Thus people with sickle cell disease are very resistant or even immune to malaria. It's a pretty good example of evolution and natural selection because in places with high incidence of malaria it's more beneficial survival-wise to have sickle cell disease for it's anti-malarial properties, then to have a longer overall lifespan and quality of life (without sickle cell).

Dr Herbie
Horses for courses

In reply to Bass

#Feb 27th @ 5:39 PM

The sickle-cell story is a little more complex than we're talking here.

Every human has two copies of every gene (we are 'diploid' organisms). If a person carries one copy of the sickle-cell mutation then they are resistant to Malaria as described. However, carrying two copies of the sickle cell mutation is seriously detremental and potentially fatal.

So there are two forces in the system : malaira (environmental factor) keeps the sickle cell gene around because having one copy is beneficial, but full-blown sickle cell (genetic) puts the brakes on because when two sickle cell carrying, malaria-resistant parents have a child there is always a 1 in 4 chance of that child having full-bown sickle cell and never reaching adulthood.

This is why not everyone has sickle cell.

Biology is a constant system of balance and tipping points.

If you really want to know how DNA turns into organisms, you'll need to read up on developmental genetics (a vast and complicated subject). The Homeobox genes are a good place to start.

Homeobox is the gene that tells the fertilised egg which end is the head, which end is the tail and where everything else in-between should go. In the fruit fly (Drosophila) , the egg receives a dose of homeobox protein at one end while being laid by the mother. This dose diffuses through the length of the egg forming a gradient of concentration. The concentration of homeobox protein is a trigger to different genes at different homeobox protein levels; head genes are switched on at one end, tail genes are switched on at the other end and everything else is switched on in the appropriate place.

The homeobox gradient is actually just the starting point for a whole cascade of protein gradients that map out the body plan in the embryo. The whole thing is an amazing analogue control system (sorry geeks, we’re analogue not digital).

These gradients sometime cause strange mutations : Anne Bolyn was said to have six fingers (which is a known mutation caused by a particularly strong concentration of a developmental protein in the area of the thumb (the concentration of the gradient determines the positions of the fingers, if it’s too strong fingers continue to grow until the concentration drops away). I once read a wonderfully titled paper : "Why Great Danes sometines have an extra digit, but poodles never do" which covered this subject. Sadly I can't find any references to it on-line.

I think all software developers should study the cascade system of homeobox genes : if nothing else it will stop you using cascades of events in your code : it’s just too complicated!

Herbie

Charles
Welcome Change

In reply to Dr Herbie

#Feb 27th @ 10:41 PM

We seem to take for granted the ability of conciousness to rationalize. The universe, whether it likes it or not (we like and dislike things, now don't we?), is realizing itself. DNA? That's just an implementation detail.

C

magicalclick

In reply to Charles

#Feb 27th @ 11:16 PM

Conciousness is overrated. In the end, it is all just waves resonating or interfere with each other. Well, that's just my thinking though since there is no way to prove it. I believe everything is made out of waves, which is not physical. More like Matrix but waves instead of 0 and 1.

tfraser

In reply to magicalclick

#Feb 27th @ 11:40 PM

Huh?

jason818_253.33
Yippi skippy

In reply to tfraser

#Feb 28th @ 1:47 AM

Every thing is made up of atoms. With in the atom is a nucleus made of protons and neutrons. Around the nucleus are electrons. The protons and neutrons are made up of things called quarks. Atoms and their formation constitute elements that we see on the periodic table. The elements form to make molecules. In organic chemistry these molecules then make up things like proteins, DNA and RNA.

Thanks Dr Herbie for your insight. It's just in the last few years have I realized how great learning is. I have a collage text book I have been reading to learn more about DNA.

tfraser

In reply to jason818_253.33

#Feb 28th @ 7:32 AM

Um, I've studied my fair share of chemistry so I know that already. I was just confused about magicalclick's assessment of consciousness being related to waves.

evildictaitor
if( !succeed( try() ) ) { while(true) try(); }

In reply to tfraser

#Feb 28th @ 7:50 AM

Hapilly Fourier-series allow you to approximate nearly everything as super-imposed waves. That doesn't mean that the statement "everything is made up of waves" is meaningful.

@magicalclick: If you start a sentence with the words "I believe" then it's not science, and you should refrain from making concrete assertions based on "beliefs".

jason818_253.33
Yippi skippy

In reply to tfraser

#Feb 28th @ 7:50 AM

Sorry tfraser, Its magicalclick’s idea that waves make every thing I had hoped to debunk.

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

In reply to jason818_253.33

#Feb 28th @ 9:45 AM

Well that's quantum physics/chemistry...

Nothing is either a wave or a particle, but in fact both (i.e the "de Broglie equation (lambda=h/p) relates wavelike properties to particles and visa versa.

And electrons, which are vital to the universe as we know it, are just a set of wavefunctions (no one quite knows what a wavefunction is, however what we do know is that if you square it it becomes proportional to the probability density function of said electron)..

And apologies for my over simplification of the sickle cell above, I didn't think homo/heterozygous stuff relevant to my point.

Dr Herbie
Horses for courses

In reply to GoddersUK

#Feb 28th @ 3:01 PM

I had assumed that someone would eventually ask 'Why don't we all have sickle cell?' so I threw in the additional complexity.
Besides, the complexity is what makes it all so interesting Wink

Herbie

magicalclick

In reply to evildictaitor

#Feb 28th @ 8:57 AM

Yupe, I have no intention to prove my statement at all. This is why I said, I balieve or that's just my thought. I believe everything is made out of waves because that's the only thing that exist without physical form. Waves is the only thing that you can't split up in peices.

There is a longer reasoning behind it, but in short, if we divide an object infinite times, it still exist. Then, what's the infinitely small object? I drop such possibility and believe there is no such object as intinitely small object. Thus, we are pretty much made out of something none physical and the closest thing I can relate is Waves. Cray thinking. No proof and I don't plan to prove it as it provides no benifits to humanity if it is true.

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

In reply to magicalclick

#Mar 1st @ 2:09 AM

As as said there is no believe or otherwise to it.

It is equation. Solid hard fact.

Louis de Broglie FTW!