Genetics as the Cure

DNA, RNA, enzymes, ribosomes, polymerase......terms that we all become vaguely familiar with in elementary biology courses, and then forget. These terms relate to the field of genetics. Genetics is the study and science of human life in its’ most basic element, that is to say, the beginning. Most people associate the study of genetics with controversial topics such as that of cloning. In fact, the sensationalism surrounding this field has made it appear to be science fiction, completely detached from reality. Fact of the matter is , is that genetics is very real. It has been labeled as the cutting edge of the science and medical world. Some even speculate that scientists and doctors will look toward this field of medicine for all of the answers to the questions and problems that we are all faced with today, as related to disease and the origin of life. Fortunately, for those individuals who suffer from hereditary diseases, science is progressing by leaps and bounds in the study of genes and the origin of human life.

As human beings, we are all endowed with certain traits and characteristics that define our individuality. These traits make each and every one of us unique, and we often recognize some of our own characteristics in our parents, siblings, and other relatives. These patterns of heredity might cause some of us to wonder how. One such individual was a scientist by the name of Gregor Mendell. Mendell was a monk who studied the basis of inheritance more than a century ago. He spent most of his life in a monastery in an Austrian village named Brunn. Mendell also grew up on a farm, and therefor had knowledge and interest in matters of agriculture. Mendell’s studies and experiments with the garden pea plant, pisum sativum, are historical. They gave the world a better understanding of the concept of inheritance. Mendell bred and cross- bred several generations of pea plants. Through experimentation and statistical analysis, he discovered a pattern in the offspring produced. These patterns were established through visible traits and characteristics in the pea plants. This was all of the proof that Gregor Mendell needed to decide that there was more to inheritance than mere chance. Mendell did not discover what was responsible for the patterns of inheritance he saw in his pea plants. What he did, however, was to spark the interest of the scientific world into examining further the presmptions that he made about inheritance. Before Mendell, the world believed that the information transmitted by both the sperm and the egg was in the form of some sort of unorganized blob. When organisms mated, the two blobs mixed together. This idea was great, but did not account for the variety of traits that were present in the offspring of two parents. Mendell showed the world that this information was organized in units called genes. Genes are units of information about specific traits passed on from parents to offspring, and are located on specific areas on a chromosome in a cell’s nucleus. By the turn of the century, the field of micro and molecular biology had exploded. By the year 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick from Indiana and Cambridge Universities proposed the structure of something called DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA was found in the heart of every living cell, the nucleus. It was found to be highly acidic, and had only five components. These five components were thymine, cytosine, guanine, adenosine, and in certain cases, uracil. These nucleic acids were discovered to be the building blocks of life. They could be put together in limitless combinations, and were discovered to act as sentences in a cell’s book of inheritance.

The discovery of DNA revolutionized science, and gave birth to a new field of study, genetics. Science discovered that it was DNA that was at the heart of every organic cell. And that it was this molecule that was the basis of inheritance. It was the DNA nestled under the many layers of amino acids that made up the genetic codes on the chromosomes in the cellular nucleus that dictated our individuality. DNA decided whether we would be tall or short, fat or skinny. It was responsible for the color of our hair and eyes. DNA was discovered to be indirectly responsible for much of our behavior and predispositions. It was learned that we inherited this genetic information from our parents, and that certain traits appeared to dominant in certain species, and in others, recessive. Which traits the offspring would inherit was merely probability, and could only be predicted to a certain extent, as we learned from the experiments of Gregor Mendell.

The alphabet of heredity that has been described is known as the genome. It has been the on going endeavor of science to decipher this new language, with the hopes of advancing medicine and furthering our understanding of the origins of life. By mapping out the entire human genome, science hopes to gain a complete understanding of the functioning of the human organism, and thereby gain an understanding of how to repair it when it "breaks", much like a mechanic would fix an automobile. All of this is especially relevant to us as it relates to disease. After all, in order to properly diagnose and repair a problem with anything, one needs to understand its’ components and how it works. It is therefor the hope of scientists to discover the human genome in its’ entirety, giving us literally, our official owners’ manual. The breakthroughs that science is making in the field of genetics should concern everyone. Unfortunately, the science has been given a "bad rap". As mentioned earlier, the topic arouses for many, a great deal of fear. This fear is based on the unknown, and the sensationalism that has shrouded this topic since its’ birth. Until the present, and even still, genetics is for most of us, a science of fiction. We are all familiar with the tale of Frankenstein. Stories of this sort, along with other tales of genetically engineered monsters and cloning, has given way to a great deal of skepticism.

Genetics has also created a great deal of criticism based on the ethical aspects of this science. A common belief is that the ability to clone organisms compromises the value we place on life. That in doing so, we are playing God, and toying with disaster. What needs to be understood, however, is that genetics is a field that encompasses so much more than the duplication of life. Cloning is something made possible by genetic engineering, but is not what science is striving to accomplish. By mapping out and understanding the human genome, doctors hope to gain a better knowledge of how to combat disease and improve human life. It is not their apparent desire to create a "super race", but to better the quality of life that already exists, and to possibly add to its’ longevity.

Through a set of procedures known as gene therapy, doctors and scientists have been able to accomplish tasks previously deemed impossible. What this procedure is, is the transfer of one or more modified genes into an individual’s body cells in order to correct a genetic disorder or boost resistance to disease. Until recently, this procedure had been untried and proven to be physically wrenching. In 1992, however, a woman from Quebec, Canada consented to this procedure in hopes to correct a disorder that had taken the lives of her two younger brothers, and also her mother. The inherent disorder was related to a predisposition for heart failure as related to an inability to control the production of cholesterol. The woman became a milestone in the history of genetics, and the procedure performed on her aided in her recovery and will certainly help her to live a longer life.

Another breakthrough in the field of genetics relates to one of the nation’s biggest killers, cancer. Cancer is a disease that has, until recently, thought to have been incurable. Just within the past decade, it has been discovered that cancer is an inherent disorder. It was once believed that the disease was caused by exterior forces. Studies have shown, however, that though the disease is influenced and often aggravated by such external forces as U.V. radiation, people are born with a disposition to develop cancer that they inherit from their parents. Because of this discovery, science has high hopes of the ability to combat this disease through gene therapy.

Cancer is, by definition, uncontrolled cell growth and reproduction. Cell reproduction, meiosis or mitosis, is regulated by the information that is received and processed inside the nucleus of the cell. When the information that is read by the cell off of the strands of DNA is faulty, the cell mutates, and becomes unable to function properly. These mutations render the cell useless. This would be fine if it were only isolated to one cell. Unfortunately, the cell reproduces, and at an alarming rate. The mutated cells huddle together in a mass called a tumor. There exist two types of tumors, benign and malignant. A benign tumor is bound together by a cell wall and unable to substantially affect the surrounding areas of the infected organism. Malignant tumors are similar, but have no cell wall to contain the growth. The mutated mass of cells consequently spreads throughout the organism, attacking and infecting all that lie in its path.

Upon isolating the cause of cancer to misreadings that occur along DNA strands, scientists have thus been able to better understand how to combat this disease. It was discovered that the misinterpretation of genetic information that causes cellular mutations occurs in all living organisms on a regular basis. The question then occurs, why do we nat all die of cancer? The answer is once again found at the heart of the matter, DNA. All organisms have their own defense mechanism located on the short arm of chromosome 13 in every one of our cells. It is a gene referred to as p53. P53 produces a protein by the same name which acts as an enzyme inhibitor. This means that when a mutation occurs in the DNA of a cell, p53 attaches itself to the problem area in an effort to correct the problem by blocking its’ spread throughout the cell. If the protein is not able to fix the problem in this manner, it produces enzymes that kill the infected cell before it can spread its’ influence to other parts of the body, thus stopping the disease before it starts. Studies and autopsies have shown that the cause of death in over 200 identifiable variations of cancer in nearly 85% of its’ victims is due to the inability of the p53 gene to function properly.

Having discovered all of this, genetic engineers are eager to find a way to isolate and engineer good copies of the gene p53 to administer to those who are in need. With this knowledge, we now have the capability to discover a predisposition for cancer before it ever occurs. This being the case, doctors can advise those individuals with the faulty genetic make-up to avoid such cancer causing agents as excessive sun light, tobacco, asbestos, and other forms of radiation. If avoidance does not lead to prevention, and the individual develops cancer, then doctors could implement gene therapy. They would be able to extract healthy samples of the gene p53 from one individual. Once having the sample, they would grow a culture of it in a plasmid rich environment, cloning the original sample millions of times over. The next step would be to inject the healthy genetic information in a harmless virus, and inject the virus into the patient. The virus would go to work infecting cells and replacing their genetic information with its’ own. Hence, the patient is given the healthy gene, and the ability to combat cancer internally.

Other remarkable advances in the field of genetics are its’ uses in law enforcement. Genetic fingerprints are now accepted and can be used as forensic evidence. The advantage to this is that of being able to track down criminals, and to prosecute the right person with evidence that cannot be falsified or replicated. It is also proving useful in searches for missing perons by tracking blood and skin samples.

Genetic engineering is not about playing God. Through cross breading, and natural selection, it has occurred in nature for billions of years. We are simply bringing it to the laboratory in an effort to benefit the entire human race. Already we have innumerable amounts of genetically engineered bacteria and other medication on the market. Science is on the brink of discovering the cure for all disease! Imagine having to deal with the loss of a limb, and having to cope with a prosthetic substitute because of some unfortunate accident or birth defect. Through advances in the field of genetic engineering, doctors could create a new limb or appendage for you from samples from your own muscle tissue and skin cells!

The fact of the matter is , genetics is progressing at an alarming rate. It is the writer’s belief that we could neither stop nor slow down its’ advances. It has its’ skeptics, who believe that it is simply wrong, and that is gives mankind too much knowledge in regards to life itself. Not only that, but that by empowering scientists and doctors to literally "play God" with the fates of others is unethical and unmoral. It is the belief of others, however, that the knowledge the we possess and cultivate is divine. And that it is in our own best interest to learn and progress. Upon examining the field of genetic research with an open mind, one can see its’ practical uses and positive implications that it has upon life on this earth. It is simply a matter of overcoming our fear of progress. A matter of the ability to embrace such wonderful advances in the field of science and medicine, knowing that such advances are for our benefit. Once a complete understanding of the human genome is attained, it is believed that the procedures regarding gene therapy could be less expensive, and simpler in application than the medicine that we practice now. This and other facts should lead one to conclude that the advantages that genetics has for the world far out-weigh any risks that may exist in the process. We are not talking about making human sacrifices for the sake of scientific progress. Any sacrifices made in genetic research are at a micro-molecular level. Surely there exists few, if any at all, who would seriously mourn the death of a bacteria in an effort to better human life. It is easy for us all to be skeptical when it comes to such a controversial subject. Genetics has its’ enemies, and they are far from few. This being the case, there is a lot of negative bias associated with this science. Put anyone in a hospital bed, however, with a terminal disease such as cancer, and watch how quickly they become an avid supporter of genetic research when it becomes the only thing that can save their life.