| Cells that
make up the human body generally have 23 pairs of chromosomes.
Sometimes called the “genome”, the full complement
of human chromosomes contain approximately 3 billion base
pairs of DNA or 40,000 genes.
What
is a gene?
A gene is a functional and physical unit of heredity passed
from a parent to its child. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most
genes contain the information for making a specific protein.
This explains why traits that relate to physical appearance
– such as eye colour, cheek bone structure, and hair
texture – can be passed from a mother to her children.
But, genes are not limited to affecting physical appearances.
Genes play an important role in the health of all parts of
the human body.
Diseases such as cancer, glaucoma, autism,
ADHD, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and muscular
dystrophy may be caused when genes “malfunction”.
For more information on genes and their role in disease, please
visit the National Centre for Biotechnology Information website
on “Genes
and Disease” |
