The question of what genes are is very interesting. On the one hand, everyone knows that hereditary information is transmitted from parents to a child, but the very mechanism for storing this information is unclear to most people. All living beings have genetic traits, and they determine all the initial data about the body: its appearance, belonging to a certain species, structural features, and so on.
Many people remember from the school biology course that this information is stored in DNA - one of the main nucleic acids. It is the chain of deoxyribonucleic acid that determines the individuality of a person or animal in terms of physiology. But what is the relationship between DNA and gene? Let's understand these terms.
What are genes and DNA
In the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, separate sections are distinguished, which are responsible for the availability of certain information from their owner. It is these parts of the chain that are genes. They contain information about the protein, and the protein isorganic building material. All the components of deoxyribonucleic acid contained in every cell of the body make up the genome of a living being. Some of this information is passed down from the father, and some is inherited from the mother.
Thanks to the ability to decipher genetic information, today it is possible to establish kinship, such as paternity, with great accuracy. In fact, the question of what genes are is complex enough to be answered in a nutshell. But in the language of metaphors, this information can be somewhat simplified. Imagine a DNA chain in the form of a book about a specific living being, then genes will be separate words on the pages of this publication. Each of the words consists of only 4 letters, but an unlimited number of phrases can be added from them. That is, a gene is an alternation of four chemical compounds. These nucleic bases are called adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. A slight metamorphosis in the genetic code, when changing one chemical compound to another, leads to a change in the meaning of the “phrase” as a whole. And as we remember, each gene is responsible for the structure of the protein. Different information in it - a different structure of the protein - new features of the organism. But such alternations are possible only when hereditary information is transmitted, so brothers and sisters of the same parents differ from each other, even if they are identical twins. But the information embedded in our genome is unchanged from birth to death.
Gene aging
Lifespan andThe mechanism of age-related changes that occur with a person depends on genetic information. A piece of code that would be specifically responsible for aging has not been found, but scientists argue that it is unlikely that such data is stored in DNA in a single place. Aging is a complex process that affects all body systems, so the "luminaries of science" still have a long search in this direction.
An interesting but rather provocative point of view on heredity was presented in a book published in 1976. It was written by the English ethologist C. R. Dawkins. The Selfish Gene is a scientific work that puts forward the theory that the driving force behind evolution lies in the desire to increase the adaptability of the species. Selection occurs at the genetic level, not at the level of populations and individual individuals. In general, there is still no definitive answer to the question: “What are genes?” Most likely, ideas about these DNA regions with the development of science will be replenished with new data and seriously modified.
