What Can the Scientific Study of DNA Tell Us about Human Health?

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A Mullin        Essential Skills for Biosciences 1        01/12/09

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What Can the Scientific Study of DNA Tell Us about Human Health?

Ever since the first philosophically inquisitive minds questioned the mechanisms of living organisms and their process’, the scientific community has recorded oscillations in emphasis and bias through conflicting dilemmas. This drive taken toward a commonly identifiable nucleus of knowledge has often been constricted through conflicts between religious and moral anchors and the need for scientists to push the envelope in order to reach that next crucial level of understanding. In 1953 Watson and Crick offered a groundbreaking conclusion to the understanding of DNA; a discovery that would ultimately change the scientific community for ever (Pray, 2008). This double helix theory brought with it a new generation of scientists, questions and techniques and started a new science revolution.

When considering the effects of DNA studies on human health we must think beyond those studies that are directly related to the human body; indeed we must understand that every living organism contains the hereditary molecule DNA. Whether a simple single celled bacterium or a hugely complex multi-cellular structure, either way gene processes and therefore DNA underlie all life processes and the various chain reactions involved with each of those processes. From within the perspective of human health there are certain base requirements that are required in order to promote the human life cycle; the human body requires nutrition and proteins to provide energy and cell structure; It also requires various chemicals and chemical processes to take place in order to support cellular respiration, growth and development and to fight off infections and viruses; the list is infinite and DNA is intrinsic to the success of each of these processes.

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At a basic level we understand that the processes of DNA replication produce polypeptides of amino acids which correspond to proteins; something we have already identified as a key requirement for the human structure. If a mutation in the DNA was to occur during this process the domino effect could be potentially catastrophic if not fatal. This has led to a major increase in the amount of genetic studies such as recombinant DNA technologies. The human race suffers from many debilitating human conditions that are directly linked to parental DNA heredity and not attributed to random mutation; DNA studies ...

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