Scratching the surface of our genetic makeup.

 Not many people think of themselves on a molecular level, mainly due to the complexity related to the subject. But once delved into genetics is a fascinating topic, it throws prodigious knowledge at you, all the while engrossing you further into the subject (which I assure you increases in intricacy).



As an organism we are made up of cells, these are the smallest functional unit of an organism. Within the cells is a nucleus which is what controls the cell, the nucleus contains what we call chromosomes. Most human cells contain 46 chromosomes spread across 22 pairs which are called autosomes, the remaining pair are what decides our sex, the XX and XY chromosomes (XX for females and XY for males). Hopefully I worded that in a way that’s easy to understand.

A chromosome consists of DNA which in turn is made up of genes, Chromosomes are best understood as a sort of storage unit for genes, and as we all know a gene is what makes up our genetic information. 

DNA is made up of four chemical bases:

1. Adenine 

2. Guanine 

3. Cytosine 

4. Thymine 

And within these bases is where information is stored, the chemicals are found within the bridges between the double helix of our DNA. For a visual aid see figure 1. 

Figure 1 

At the risk of not being able to simplify effectively I will not venture into genetics any further. My explanation allows for people to understand the very basics of genetics which can act as a foundation for anyone that would like to learn more on the subject. I appreciate this subject is not accustomed to everyone’s taste but it does not stop the fact that it is incredibly interesting. The perplexing nature of genetics is something that just causes my interest to increase in an attempt at understanding the subject as much as possible. Regardless of its interest I do find myself in the occasional state of mental madness, sitting in my room hunched over books and a keyboard for hours on end questioning reality like a crazy man, but hay if you love it, what does it matter :) I hope that some of my posts are of interest to those that come across this blog, and wish everyone well.